Dive Brief:
- Pizza Hut will promote Vipul Chawla, currently managing director of its Asia-Pacific region, to president of its international division, the company announced Friday. A 20-year-veteran of Unilever, Chawla joined parent company Yum Brands in 2011 as the general manager of Pizza Hut Asia and then CMO of KFC Asia.
- Reporting to Yum Brands CEO Greg Creed, Chawla will spearhead strategy and performance for the pizza chain outside the U.S. and direct all international general managers. “Vipul Chawla is an extraordinarily talented leader and highly respected global marketer with a proven track record of growing Pizza Hut across the Asia-Pacific region with our franchise partners,” Creed said in a statement. “He’s the ideal person to take Pizza Hut International to the next level."
- Chawla will take the reins on Dec. 3 from Milind Pant, a fellow Unilever veteran who led Pizza Hut China and Thailand before his three-year stint as head of the international division.
Dive Insight:
Chawla will lead Pizza Hut's international division at a critical time for the brand's global growth. Analysts predicted in 2017 that Domino’s would overtake Pizza Hut as the world’s leading pizza chain, and the pizza company snuck ahead in February with $12.2 billion in global sales compared to Pizza Hut’s $12 billion. Though Pizza Hut still boasts more locations than Domino's — with some 17,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries — the “problem child” of Yum! Brands, according to Creed, needs to refocus.
The chain is also lagging behind Domino’s and Papa John’s in mobile and online ordering. In March, it won big in securing a partnership with the NFL after scandal-ridden Papa John's cut ties with the league, but whether the brand can leverage this high-profile victory into long-term growth depends heavily on international expansion.
Pizza Hut expects Chawla to boost the brand's perception abroad, despite a 2% drop in same-store sales this year. Under Pant, the chain has recently made some international inroads that Chawla could build upon. For example, in May the chain made a franchise agreement with Telepizza, a Spanish pizza chain based in Madrid. Per the agreement, Telepizza will open and operate more than 2,550 Pizza Hut restaurants over the next 20 years, and in the meantime will convert all existing locations in Latin America and the Caribbean to the Pizza Hut brand.
Last year, Yum invested $130 million in Pizza Hut in the hopes it would see growth similar to that of KFC, which has improved after a hefty investment in 2015. But Chawla faces challenges in vital international areas including China, where flashy items like sea-snail and durian pizza have struggled to attract younger audiences. Chawla's promotion follows the advancement of Tony Lowings, another Yum Brands vet with extensive international insight and experience in the company's Asia-Pacific region, to CEO of KFC.
These executive changes highlight Yum's increased focus on Asian markets, but while KFC may flourish in these regions, perhaps the next big path to growth for Pizza Hut lies in Spanish-speaking regions.
Creed is holding out hope for The Hut, assuring investors that renewed focus on consistent value, rather than novelty items, will spur growth. The company has also rolled out a string of initiatives stateside to defend its turf in the increasingly competitive pizza space, including hiring 14,000 delivery drivers and updating operations technology. Chawal is tasked with developing similar successful strategies in international markets, though its unclear if the pizza brand will attain the growth that KFC and Taco Bell enjoy outside of the U.S.