Pizza Hut's Enhanced Safety Measures Include Contactless Curbside Delivery
Pizza Hut is doubling down on its efforts to keep team members and customers safe, announcing the availability of contactless curbside pickup at participating restaurants nationwide.
Customers select contactless curbside for online orders by checking a box when placing their order online or via the mobile app, or request it when placing their phone order. The brand will also be introducing new health and safety measures aimed at protecting team members, customers and the communities it serves, with a focus on helping to ensure that team members and guests feel safe, valued, and cared for during this critical time.
Nationwide Contactless Options
With an increase in customer demand for contactless options — over 60% of online delivery orders are now via contactless delivery — Pizza Hut is introducing curbside pickup for customers that want their pizza right out of the oven, but don't want to leave their car. The service is now available at most Pizza Hut restaurants nationwide. Pizza Hut remains committed to providing customers a safe experience to get their pizza via three contactless offerings: curbside pickup, delivery or carryout.
For contactless curbside, customers provide details on the vehicle they're driving, and then pre-pay using a credit or debit card. A gloved team member will bring out the pizza and place it in the car. As with all orders, Pizza Hut's process requires that once a pizza leaves Pizza Hut's 400+ degree oven, it slides hands-free into the box without anyone touching the pizza until the customer opens the box at home.
Safety Sealed
Starting next week, new tamper proof safety seals will be applied to all Medium and Large pizza boxes, as well as all Dinner Box, Big Dinner Box, and Big Dipper orders. The new safety seal must be broken by the customer in order to access the food inside. Pizza Hut's hands-free oven-to-box process and new safety seals will help give customers confidence that their food was not touched after leaving the oven.
Pizza Hut is also deferring expiring Hut Rewards Points for members during this time. All points set to expire between April 13 and June 30 are being extended until mid-October. For those members who had points expire between March 15 and April 12, those points have been returned to member accounts and are available to redeem for free pizza, wings and more.
Protective Equipment for Team Members
Pizza Hut is also adding to its commitment to the health and safety of team members by introducing new recommended safety procedures and by planning to make certain personal protective equipment available to franchisees, team members, and its franchisees' team members, including:
- Masks – Over 10 million non-surgical grade masks will be available for in-restaurant team members at restaurants across the country over the coming weeks. Masks have already been deployed to Pizza Hut restaurants located in hot zones around the country, and additional supply will start arriving for use by Pizza Hut team members at other restaurants beginning next week.
- Team Member Temperature Checks – Temperature check procedures will be communicated as thermometers become available in the coming weeks.
- Counter Shields – Clear protective shields will be available for restaurants to install at the front counter to add a barrier between team members and customers, providing an extra layer of protection for contactless carryout orders.
- Single-Use Disposable Gloves – All guest-facing restaurant team members are advised to wear single-use, disposable gloves during their shifts, in addition to team members who wear gloves when handling and preparing food after they've thoroughly washed and sanitized their hands.
- Social Distancing Reminders – Signage is available to be placed in the restaurant and back of house to remind and encourage social distancing procedures for both customers and team members.
"The health and safety of our team members, customers and the communities we serve remains our top priority," said Nicolas Burquier, Chief Customer and Operations Officer, Pizza Hut. "We understand people trust us to provide safe, fast and reliable food to feed them and their families. We take that responsibility very seriously and these new measures are reaffirmation of that mentality."
In other news Pizza Hut and its franchisees recently announced that they're hiring for over 30,000 open positions at restaurants across the country. Available jobs include cooks, shift leaders, restaurant managers, and virtual call center agents.