The 20 Most Surprising Facts about Pizza Hut

There is nothing so delicious as a hot, greasy pizza at the end of a long, hard day of having fun and being active – or being out in the sun. I’ve noticed that while pizza is not something I love in general, there is nothing I crave more after a long day on the boat, at the beach, running a 5k or doing something of that nature. It’s just the way it goes, I suppose, and the fact that they deliver has nothing to do with it, I’m sure. Pizza Hut is one of the most popular and well-known pizza franchises in the country – and even outside the country. But despite what you think you know about the fast food pizza joint, you might be just a little surprised to learn that you don’t even know the half of it.

Annual sales at Pizza Hut are quite impressive, expanding to more than $12 billion on any particular year. What’s even more impressive is that this number just keeps growing, too.

Watch out India. You are the country next on the list of places to go and people to deliver pizza to, if this particular company has its way. They want to open up the market to their own brand in your area, which means you could be enjoying greasy pizza soon, too.

There are more than 13,400 Pizza Hut locations across the world, and that’s a lot more than any other brand. In fact, my favored brand is Papa Johns but they have only 4,300 restaurants across the globe. Others, such as Dominos, have more, but even they only have approximately 10,000 locations across the world.

And the first pizza restaurant to make friends with technology and the changing times is Pizza Hut. It was the first pizza restaurant to ever accept an order for a pizza online, and now that’s one of the most popular ways to order a pizza.

In addition to being the first restaurant ever to allow an online order, you might be even more surprised to learn we’ve been doing that for 21 years. The first online pizza order was made to Pizza Hut in 1994. If it were a person, it would be out drinking it up legally for the first time this year.

It’s the number one pizza restaurant in the country in terms of fast food delivery pizza. That one is a shock to me, because I would have absolutely gone with something like Papa John’s as the best.

You can actually – I’m not even kidding right now – order the proposal package at Pizza Hut. This includes a ruby ring, fireworks, flowers, a limo, a photographer and a videographer and even a pizza, breadsticks and cinnamon sticks. But to be just a little bit offended, we can’t believe the pizza is only a medium.

The proposal package is going to set you back a staggering $10,010. I bet I could come up with a proposal package with a nicer ring, the same amenities and a large pizza for less than that. I’m just throwing that out there.

Want to smell like your favorite pizza? In 2012, the people of Pizza Hut thought you just might, so they released a very limited edition perfume “Eau de Pizza Hut,” of which there are only 110 bottles.

Pizza Hut is a presidential favorite. At least it was when George Bush the original  was in the White House. When Barbara Bush threw a party in the White House back in 1989, she ordered pizza for delivery. See? What did I say about just craving this stuff sometimes?

Famous people love Pizza Hut. In fact, some of the busiest and most famous people in the world have starred in commercials and advertisements for the company, including billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump. Additionally, even former Beatles star Ringo Starr has starred in his own.

If you’ve ever wondered how much cheese Pizza Hut uses, worry not. The restaurant boasts an annual usage of around 300 million pounds of the good stuff. Or the not so good stuff, I’m sure.

And to make that much cheese, the restaurant uses around 360 million gallons of milk on an annual basis. That’s a lot of milk. It explains the prices we’re paying these days for a pie.

Two brothers decided that they wanted to start a business, but they didn’t have the money. What did they do? They asked their mom for a loan, and she gave them $600. That’s what they used to begin their very successful business.

Stuffed crust has come in a myriad of different manners. Over the years, pizza has been stuffed with everything from hot dogs to chicken to sausage to cheeseburgers. Though I think we can all agree that the best thing to stuff a pizza with is certainly cheese.

The name comes from the wife of one of the restaurant’s founders. She believed that the outside of the first building reminded her of a small hut, and the name was born from that.

If you know what marmite is, you might be very happy (or grossed out) to know that you can have it stuffed into the crust of your pizza, but only in New Zealand. Lucky you?

The first ever pizza at the first ever Pizza Hut in Kansas was so cheap you might just shed a tear or two the next time you order a pizza. A large pizza was only $1.50 and a small was $.95.

Pizza is really popular in Moscow. The most successful restaurant in the franchise is located there and it makes around $6,500 per day in pizza sales and other sales. That’s pretty impressive.

Pizza Hut really does deliver anywhere, unless you are just outside of their delivery area in which case they will not deliver to you. But should an astronaut stationed in space need a pizza, it will be delivered to the International Space Station. Sorry if you’re in the ‘burbs, though.

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