Nearly 20 years ago, Pizza Hut reinvented the way many people eat pizza by introducing Stuffed Crust Pizza. Now, the brand is expanding its Stuffed Crust line with the new 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza.
The 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza will be a permanent addition to the Pizza Hut menu—the first new pizza to be added full-time since the original Stuffed Crust in 1995.
“When it comes to innovation in the pizza category, Pizza Hut leads while our competitors follow,” says Kurt Kane, chief marketing officer at Pizza Hut. “The Pizza Hut Stuffed Crust Pizza is one of the most iconic products ever introduced in the restaurant industry. People loved it and continue to love it, which is why we’re so excited about the development of our new 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza. Our 3-Cheese has a unique look and taste when compared to the original. Our innovation team has been perfecting a new permanent addition to our menu for a long time – and we nailed it.”
Pizza Hut first unveiled the 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza on October 5 at party hosted by the company and Viacom Music Group at a popular music event in Austin, Texas.
With a blend of white Cheddar, Mozzarella, and Provolone cheeses, the new Pizza Hut 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza builds on the brand’s history of crust innovation. The original Stuffed Crust Pizza was an immediate success, generating more than $300 million in sales in its first year.
Since then, Pizza Hut has experimented with Stuffed Crust in other forms, including the recent Crazy Cheesy Crust creation. Crazy Cheesy Crust featured a blend of five cheeses inside 16 dough pockets as its outer edge. In previous years, Pizza Hut introduced the Ultimate Stuffed Crust, which included toppings rolled up inside the pizza crust, and Stuffed Crust Gold, which included Cheddar cheese.
The Pizza Hut food innovation team works to come up with new flavor combinations, crust types, and sauces to satisfy consumers. According to Pizza Hut executive chef, Wiley Bates III, the inspiration for 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza was all about giving consumers a little (or a lot) more of what they already love.
“The Pizza Hut original Stuffed Crust Pizza was an immediate hit and has some of the most passionate and loyal fans of any restaurant product,” Bates says. “Our new 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust takes everything that people love about Stuffed Crust and adds even more flavor. Combine that flavor punch with our choice ingredients and we feel we’ve landed on a recipe that pizza lovers will absolutely go crazy for, just like the original.”
In the weeks leading up to the nationwide rollout, Pizza Hut will reward three cities that have shown the most love for Stuffed Crust through the years with an early taste of the new 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza. Pizza Hut records show that restaurants at 3094a Story Road in San Jose, California; 3052 Lancaster Drive NE in Salem, Oregon; and 9200 New Hampshire Ave. in Silver Spring, Maryland, have sold more original Stuffed Crust Pizzas than any other restaurants in America. These select restaurants will offer 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust at its regular menu price of $12 for a large one-topping pizza.
