Pizza Hut China builds burger business through existing outlets

Burger sales are expected to exceed $149m this year.

Yum China Holdings, Inc. is using Pizza Hut’s restaurant network to expand its burger business in China, with 300 Burger Bar locations operating less than a year after launch.

Yum China, which operates Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants in China, adds Burger Bar modules to existing pizza chains, allowing the two formats to share space, staff, and customers.

“The initial success of Burger Bar reinforced our conviction that we can capture a sizeable share of the burger market not only through menu expansion at Pizza Hut but also through a side-by-side format,” Jeff Kuai, general manager at Pizza Hut China, told QSR Media Asia.

Kuai noted that because Burger Bar shares resources with the main store, the required investment is “relatively light.”

The investment is a small fraction of the roughly $134,000 (RMB900,000) needed to open a Pizza Hut restaurant, he said, without disclosing the exact figure.

Pizza Hut has recovered the cost of opening its new stores in about two to three years in recent years, Kuai said.

“Whilst Pizza Hut’s main format is well suited for gatherings, sharing, and casual dining, Burger Bar’s quick-service model and focused menu are well positioned for individual meals and takeaway occasions,” he said in an emailed reply to questions.

Burger Bar targets younger consumers and solo diners, with a menu positioned between traditional fast-food burgers and higher-priced burger concepts.

The menu focuses on beef burgers, including the Pineapple and Beef Burger, and uses teppan-style cooking for other proteins such as black pork.

Burger Bar modules typically occupy 15 to 30 square metres, although Pizza Hut China adjusts the format to fit different restaurant layouts.

“What matters most is not the absolute size of the restaurant, but whether we can create a visible and efficient module that fits the local demand profile,” Kuai said.

Pizza Hut China has not ruled out standalone Burger Bar locations, but Kuai said it is too early to decide.

“For now, the side-by-side format is clearly the best and most efficient way for us to scale,” he said. “It also gives us a very effective way to incubate a new concept.”

Burger Bar is being developed as Pizza Hut China plans to add more than 800 restaurants in each of 2027 and 2028, taking the network above 6,000 locations by the end of 2028.

Yum China aims to double Pizza Hut’s operating profit by 2029 compared with 2024.

The expansion will add restaurants in existing cities and enter markets where Pizza Hut has fewer locations.

About 1,500 Chinese cities have a KFC but no Pizza Hut, whilst many more have neither brand, Kuai said.

Burger Bar is expected to become a bigger part of Pizza Hut China’s sales. The burger category is expected to generate more than $149m (RMB1b) this year, representing about 5% to 6% of Pizza Hut China’s sales, Kuai said.