By Satyne Doner
Pizza Hut took a big swing back in 2003, capitalizing on the rising popularity of chicken wings by launching its WingStreet concept. Nearly a decade later, the brand doubled down, investing in proprietary equipment and a delivery system that could send out both its signature pizzas and crispy wings—what Rachel Antalek, Pizza Hut’s global chief food innovation officer, calls a “harmonious pairing.”
“We saw the trend coming. Gen Z consumers’ favorite food is pizza, and their second favorite is chicken,” Antalek says. “So we deliberately attempted to figure out how we could future-proof this business by making sure we’re firing on all cylinders.”
That insight, backed by data—46 percent of Gen Z consumers cite poultry as their preferred protein—has pushed Pizza Hut to not only refine its chicken offerings, but also invite younger consumers into the innovation process.
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“We spend a lot of time looking at data, observing what people do in grocery stores, but we also bring in the consumers themselves,” Antalek says. “My team spent the last year in 12 different countries, talking to Gen Z consumers around the globe about chicken, pizza, and sauces. Listening to our customers and spending time with them is the type of ethnographic research that yields the best ideas.”
Pizza Hut leaned into this insight during the 2024 Super Bowl, placing a spotlight on its wing-pizza pairing. The result? Chicken became the brand’s fastest-growing category for the rest of the year. Antalek and her team realized the issue wasn’t product quality—it was awareness.
To drive trial and visibility, the chain introduced value-forward bundles in early 2025, including a $15.99 boneless wings, fries, and dip combo in January, followed by an Ultimate Hut bundle during the Super Bowl featuring two medium pizzas, boneless wings, and breadsticks for $24.99. The offers paid off: Pizza Hut sold a record 5 million wings on Super Bowl Sunday.
“Not only did we promote that wings are available along with pizza, but we also put a great value behind it, which drove our sales up,” Antalek says. “These offers were designed not just to build awareness, but also to provide value—because we know that’s absolutely critical for consumers right now.”
Pizza Hut’s chicken push isn’t limited to wings. The brand is expanding how chicken shows up across the menu. While grilled chicken has been a topping option for years, Pizza Hut added chicken sausage last summer—now one of the fastest-growing pizza toppings in the U.S., according to industry data.
Zooming out, Pizza Hut is part of a larger, coordinated strategy across Yum! Brands. Chicken is now a central focus for all four brands—Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell, and Habit Burger & Grill—each leaning into the category in a way that aligns with its identity. In 2024 alone, chicken drove $7.4 billion in U.S. sales across Yum!’s portfolio, which collectively purchases a staggering 3.7 billion pounds of poultry annually.
“Being part of the Yum! system means we can combine the power of all the brands, gaining incredible access to chicken on the market,” Antalek says. “At any given time, one brand can be innovating on wings, another on chicken sausage, another on slow-roasting—we consolidate purchasing in a way nobody else can.”
Taco Bell, for example, is projecting its new Cantina Chicken platform to become a $5 billion category by 2030, with initial orders already driving check sizes 40 percent higher than non-Cantina transactions. Crispy Chicken Nuggets sold out during their limited debut in December, and are expected to become permanent by 2026. KFC is modernizing its classics and sharing insights with sister brands. And Habit Burger & Grill’s Chicken Club was recently ranked the No. 1 grilled chicken sandwich by Daily Meal.
“We’re all attacking chicken differently, playing in the spaces that make sense for our individual brands,” Antalek says. “The greatest part is we learn from each other—our first phone call is obviously to KFC, but we love injecting fresh thinking and connecting the dots on what’s really important to a customer.”
That collaborative mindset is key as Pizza Hut continues to innovate beyond U.S. borders. With 40 percent of Gen Z consumers in the U.S. having a parent born elsewhere, Antalek’s team is exploring global flavor trends and regional adaptations, feeding those insights into Pizza Hut’s R&D—and sharing them across the Yum! network.
However, when it comes to balancing nostalgia and novelty, Antalek believes Pizza Hut is uniquely positioned. “Pizza is comfort food, so we have more permission to experiment and bring different flavors to the forefront,” she says.
That experimentation includes exploring not just new toppings, but new occasions. “We’re asking ourselves, ‘What’s a Tuesday night pizza?’” Antalek says. “Pizza can be indulgent—like big pan pizzas with pepperoni on a Friday—but we’re also thinking about lighter, more everyday options. That’s where a spicy marinara with chicken sausage and roasted vegetables comes in. It’s about choices, and we want to provide the right ones.”
Satyne Doner is associate editor for Women’s in Restaurant Leadership, a property of FSR and QSR magazines, sister publications to PMQ Pizza. This article originally appeared on QSR.com.
