Pizza Hut is serving up a fresh strategy to win back customers — and it starts at just $5. The chain is rolling out Crafted Flatzz, a new line of abundantly topped, hand-crafted personal pizzas designed to feel more premium than your standard slice. With five bold recipes to choose from, these personal pies are meant to tempt adults craving something different, while helping the brand tackle slipping sales. Could Crafted Flatzz be the flavor boost Pizza Hut needs?
Building on the buzz from its popular $2 Tuesday Personal Pan Pizza deal, Pizza Hut is back with another value-packed innovation to keep fans excited. Meet Crafted Flatzz—a limited-edition collection of personal pizzas created to deliver bold flavors and a big dose of fun for your solo pizza moment.
Launched in the United States on August 20 and expanding to more than 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and India, Crafted Flatzz marks the largest simultaneous global menu debut in Pizza Hut’s history. The lineup reimagines the personal pizza experience, serving up a lighter, hand-stretched crust topped with generous ingredients and recipes designed with grown-up tastes in mind. As part of its “Adultzz Only” campaign, Pizza Hut is encouraging fans to carve out a little “me time” and savor a pizza crafted just for them.
For Pizza Hut fans in the U.S., Crafted Flatzz arrive in five chef-inspired recipes loaded with flavor:
- Nashville Hot Chicken: Crispy chicken with fiery Nashville seasoning, fresh onions, melty mozzarella, and a tangy pickle ranch drizzle.
- Chicken Bacon Ranch: Crispy chicken and smoky applewood bacon layered with creamy ranch sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan oregano seasoning.
- The Ultimate: A hearty mix of pepperoni, Italian sausage, caramelized onions, roasted peppers, and tomatoes on sweet marinara with mozzarella.
- Three Cheese: A gooey upgrade to a classic, featuring marinara, mozzarella, parmesan, Romano, and oregano.
- Pepperoni Duo: A double dose of pepperoni—classic and cup ’n’ crisp—paired with marinara, mozzarella, and a savory cheese blend.
Crafted Flatzz are available all day in the U.S., with a special $5 price before 5 p.m. (pricing may vary after). Extra toppings and cheese come at an additional charge.
Pizza Hut is betting that affordability isn’t the only way to draw customers back — timing matters too. CEO Aaron Powell told CNN that nearly two-thirds of the chain’s pizzas are sold after 4 p.m., leaving the lunch window as an “area of significant opportunity” to grow.
Crafted Flatzz are designed with that in mind, targeting people who want the flavor of pizza without committing to a full pie. It’s a familiar lane for Pizza Hut, which helped popularize the Personal Pan Pizza and, more recently, introduced Melts, a calzone-style option.
“People love pizza all day. It’s up to us to bring the new ways of allowing people to have formats of pizza they can eat at any hour,” Powell said. “This is a great example of something that is an outstanding value.”
Pizza Hut leans on $5 Crafted Flatzz and other value deals as rivals surge ahead
Pizza Hut is betting big on its new Crafted Flatzz as part of a broader push to revive sales in the U.S., where the chain has endured seven straight quarters of declines. Company leaders attribute the decline in customer loyalty to confusing promotions and complex deal structures.
It’s not that Americans have lost their appetite for pizza — they’re simply choosing rivals that offer clearer value and fresher menu innovations. In the second quarter, Pizza Hut reported a 5% drop in U.S. sales, falling behind competitors who have managed to turn things around.
As CNN pointed out, Domino’s Pizza bounced back after a rocky start to the year by leaning into innovation and loyalty perks. Its higher-priced Parmesan Stuffed Crust Pizza has helped fatten margins, while an overhauled rewards program and a new DoorDash delivery partnership lifted U.S. same-store sales by 3.4%.
Papa Johns also managed to post a modest rebound, with sales up 1% after several quarters of losses. Pizza orders jumped 6% as the company doubled down on its core product, phasing out some sides and sandwiches (like the Papadia) in favor of a $6.99 “Papa Pairings” menu that kept customers coming back.
By contrast, Pizza Hut — owned by Yum! Brands — continues to wrestle with its positioning. On an August 5 earnings call, CEO David Gibbs admitted the brand had an “insufficient value message amid a competitive value landscape.”
To sharpen that message, Pizza Hut has been stacking promotions, including $2 Personal Pan Pizzas on Tuesdays and Wing Wednesdays, alongside the debut of its latest bet: the Crafted Flatzz.
Source: CNN