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Once, the popular pizza chain was the favorite for parents and children to indulge in its unlimited dining experience, help-yourself greens station, and self-serve ice-cream.

But a declining number of customers are choosing the chain these days, and it is reducing half of its UK outlets after being rescued from insolvency for the second time this year.

“We used to go Pizza Hut when I was a child,” notes Prudence. “It was like a family thing, you'd go on a Sunday – spend the whole day there.” But now, as a young adult, she says “it's not a thing anymore.”

For a diner in her twenties, certain features Pizza Hut has been famous for since it started in the UK in the seventies are now less appealing.

“How they do their buffet and their salad bar, it feels like they are cheapening on their quality and have inferior offerings... They're giving away so much food and you're like ‘How?’”

Because ingredient expenses have soared, Pizza Hut's all-you-can-eat model has become increasingly pricey to maintain. Similarly, its restaurants, which are being cut from 132 to a smaller figure.

The company, like many others, has also experienced its operating costs rise. In April this year, labor expenses jumped due to increases in the legal wage floor and an higher rate of employer national insurance contributions.

Two diners say they used to go at Pizza Hut for a date “occasionally”, but now they order in another pizza brand and think Pizza Hut is “not good value”.

According to your order, Pizza Hut and Domino's rates are close, notes a culinary author.

While Pizza Hut provides takeaway and deliveries through third-party apps, it is losing out to big rivals which focus exclusively to the delivery sector.

“Domino's has taken over the takeaway pizza sector thanks to strong promotions and ongoing discounts that make customers feel like they're getting a bargain, when in reality the base costs are relatively expensive,” notes the specialist.

Yet for Chris and Joanne it is acceptable to get their special meal sent directly.

“We definitely eat at home now instead of we eat out,” says Joanne, echoing current figures that show a decrease in people visiting casual and fast-food restaurants.

Over the summer, casual and fast-food restaurants saw a six percent decline in diners compared to the year before.

There is also one more competitor to restaurant and takeaway pizzas: the frozen or fresh pizza.

An industry leader, global lead for leisure at a major consultancy, points out that not only have supermarkets been providing good-standard ready-to-bake pizzas for years – some are even promoting countertop ovens.

“Evolving preferences are also playing a factor in the performance of quick-service brands,” says Mr. Hawkley.

The rising popularity of low-carb regimens has boosted sales at grilled chicken brands, while affecting sales of high-carbohydrate options, he continues.

Because people visit restaurants less frequently, they may prefer a more high-quality meal, and Pizza Hut's American-diner style with comfortable booths and red and white checked plastic table cloths can feel more old-fashioned than premium.

The rise of premium pizza outlets” over the last several years, including popular brands, has “dramatically shifted the consumer view of what good pizza is,” notes the industry commentator.

“A crisp, airy, digestible pizza with a select ingredients, not the overly oily, dense and piled-high pizzas of the past. That, I think, is what's led to Pizza Hut's downfall,” she states.

“Why would anyone spend a high price on a tiny, mediocre, unsatisfying pizza from a large brand when you can get a beautiful, masterfully-made classic pizza for less than ten pounds at one of the many authentic Italian pizzerias around the country?

“The decision is simple.”

A mobile pizza vendor, who operates a small business based in a county in England comments: “People haven’t fallen out of love with pizza – they just want better pizza for their money.”

The owner says his flexible operation can offer gourmet pizza at accessible prices, and that Pizza Hut faced challenges because it could not keep up with evolving tastes.

According to an independent chain in a city in southwest England, owner Jack Lander says the sector is broadening but Pizza Hut has neglected to introduce anything innovative.

“You now have individual slices, London pizza, new haven, fermented dough, wood-fired, rectangular – it's a wonderful array for a pizza-loving consumer to try.”

Jack says Pizza Hut “must rebrand” as the youth don't have any sense of nostalgia or loyalty to the chain.

In recent years, Pizza Hut's share has been sliced up and spread to its more modern, agile alternatives. To sustain its expensive staffing and restaurants, it would have to raise prices – which industry analysts say is tough at a time when family finances are decreasing.

The leadership of Pizza Hut's overseas branches said the rescue aimed “to protect our dining experience and save employment where possible”.

He said its key goal was to maintain service at the open outlets and takeaway hubs and to assist staff through the transition.

Yet with large sums going into operating its locations, it likely can't afford to spend heavily in its takeaway operation because the sector is “complicated and using existing external services comes at a expense”, analysts say.

Still, experts suggest, reducing expenses by withdrawing from competitive urban areas could be a effective strategy to adapt.