Pizza Hut launches franchise in Dhaka

LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan (centre), and Commerce and Industries Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury (next right) attend the launch of a Pizza Hut franchise in Gulshan yesterday. PHOTO: STAR

Pizza Hut, the world's most popular and largest pizza chain, formally opened its first franchise in Dhaka yesterday.

The chain restaurant on South Avenue of Gulshan-1, the first and only of its kind in Bangladesh on a spacious 7,000 sft area, can host 220 persons.

Local Government, Rural Development (LGRD) and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Commerce Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury inaugurated Pizza Hut as chief and special guests in the afternoon.

Eminent personalities including ambassadors of the United States, the Netherlands and Turkey and other diplomats were, among others, present at the function where they relished signature pizza crusts -- the pan pizza and Italian pizza -- among other servings.

Pizza Hut franchisee Transcom Foods Ltd., a concern of Transcom Group, plans to open four more outlets in the country in the next three years.

Initially, the Dhaka outlet will serve pan pizza, which is golden brown and crisp on the outside and light and fluffy inside, and the Italian pizza, made with a traditional Italian sauce and a thin and crispy crust. It also offers a range of soups, beverages, pasta and other items.

With its roots in the United States, Pizza Hut, flagship brand of Yum! Restaurants International, was launched in 1958 and has expanded to 12,000 restaurants across 100 countries, serving 1.7 million pizzas everyday to more than seven million customers.

"I am delighted to be part of the opening of the first international food outlet in Bangladesh," noted Sandeep Kohli, managing director of Yum! Restaurant International's South Asia region. "We hope to offer the customers here a taste of the world's best pizzas," he said.