Pizza Hut is trying to get into another popular American menu category — burgers. The Plano, Texas-based restaurant introduced the Cheeseburger Melt to menus nationwide on Tuesday.
The Cheeseburger Melt is a handheld with a parmesan-crusted thin crust that’s folded and filled with beef, applewood-smoked bacon, onions, mozzarella, and cheddar, served with the brand’s “Burger Sauce” on the side.
“As a brand known for exceptional pizzas, venturing into the burger business is an exciting first for us,” said Lindsay Morgan, CMO at Pizza Hut, in a statement. “We thought we’d kick off our burger journey with something bold. That's why we’re making waves in burger-chain drive-thrus, serving up our delicious new Cheeseburger Melt for all you burger lovers out there.”
The quick-service brand is touting this new menu item as a way to eat a cheeseburger on-the-go, because of its folded exterior that prevents both soggy buns and toppings falling out.
“For the first time ever, we packed everything you know and love about a cheeseburger into our craveable Thin N' Crispy crust to develop the new Cheeseburger Melt,” said Rachel Antalek, chief food innovation officer at Pizza Hut, in a statement. “Unlike a traditional cheeseburger, the Cheeseburger Melt dips perfectly into what we would argue is the world’s best burger dipping sauce. We challenge you to find a better burger and sauce experience.”
Including Cheeseburger, Pizza Hut is offering five total Melts, which consist of two slices of Pizza Hut’s Thin N Crispy crust with toppings of the customer’s choice, along with cheese. The crust is folded over and baked.
There is a Pepperoni Lover’s Melt, served with marinara dipping sauce; a Buffalo Chicken Melt served with buffalo dipping sauce and ranch dipping sauce; a Chicken Bacon Parmesan Melt served with ranch dipping sauce; and a Meat Lover’s Melt served with marinara dipping sauce. Those four options were added to the menu in 2022.
The latest menu move appears to be a part of Morgan’s long-term plan for Pizza Hut, where she wants to “tug at the heartstrings” of consumers.
“If I’m a mom, then I might be motivated by ease and price, or maybe I’m craving food innovation and comfort,” Morgan said in an interview for the NRN 2024 Power List. “Customers can be really different, and your brand can be all different kinds of things at the same time. Whether it’s value, taste or innovation, winning brands are finding ways to be multi-dimensional and hit on many things in different ways.”
The Yum Brands-owned Pizza Hut saw a 7% decrease on same-store sales for Q1.
This isn’t the first-time brands that aren’t known for burgers have tried to enter that lucrative market. In 2018, IHOP made big waves with its “name change” to IHOb in an attempt to promote their new line of burgers.
There’s also a long-standing Donatos Pizza and Red Robin crossover, a boon for both businesses that added pizza to the burger chain’s menu.