Pizza Hut

History
The Pizza Hut story began in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas where two brothers, Danny and Frank Caney, opened their first restaurant. Within one year, they franchised their first unit. In 1968, the company entered the international market with a store in Canada.
The following year stores opened in Australia, Mexico and Germany. In 1977, Pepsico, leader in the snack and beverage industry acquired Pizza Hut, initiating its entrance into the restaurant industry. At that point in time, Pizza Hut consisted of approximately
3,200 units (Tricon website 2001). By 1989, Pizza Hut had stores in fifty four countries and in the same year the company opened its first location in the state of São Paulo,
Brazil. The parent company Pepsico grew later with the acquisition of Taco Bell and
KFC, each brand expanding through the development of company-owned units and franchises throughout the world.

In an effort to sharpen Pepsico’s focus, in 1997, it announced a plan to separate the company’s packaged goods and restaurant businesses. The new company was named
Tricon Global Restaurants, and upon its formation became the world’s largest restaurant company in terms of units, and second in the world in terms of sales (Pepsico websitepress releases). The Tricon corporate philosophy promotes “A passion for putting a
‘YUM’ on people’s faces around the world… that special eating experience that makes you smile and creates lifelong customers” (Tricon website 2001). For all three of its restaurant chains Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC; Tricon focuses on franchisee support programs and training for their customer-focused operating system.

Pizza Hut entered Brazil in 1989 through engineer Edmar de Souza, who opened a second location shortly thereafter. In 1990, businessman and owner of Fábrica de
Produtos Alimenticios Vigor, Ricardo Mansur, bought the two