Pizza Hut has tapped Aaron Powell, global CEO, to oversee the U.S. business as it seeks a successor to David Graves, president of Pizza Hut U.S., who is leaving the company, a spokesperson said Monday.
Graves had served as U.S. president of the Plano, Texas-based division of Yum Brands Inc. since 2022. His next position was not yet publicly divulged.
“We appreciate the strong leadership David Graves has brought to the Pizza Hut U.S. business during the last four-plus years and the positive impact he had made in helping modernize the brand and positioning it for the future,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“We wish him well on his next chapter,” the statement said. “As we search for the right candidate to backfill the role, Aaron Powell, Pizza Hut global chief executive officer, will directly oversee Pizza Hut U.S. as part of his global responsibilities and help drive our ambitious growth agenda forward.”
Graves, prior to being named Pizza Hut U.S. president in 2022, served as chief brand officer and then general manager.
Graves played a critical role in the development and continued execution of the brand’s turnaround strategy.
Under Graves’ leadership, Pizza Hut U.S. generated mixed results, including challenges early on in his tenure to fulfill delivery demand. The company has since added third-party aggregators and rolled out Dragontail’s smart kitchen management and driver tracking tool. The company also adjusted its hiring practices to attract more drivers, including reducing the time it takes to apply for a delivery job.
Pizza Hut also sharpened its focus on more individual-use and lunch occasions, including the introduction of a new Melts category, which initially lifted traffic and boosted sales at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.
Still, Pizza Hut has had a hard time gaining market share in a competitive domestic pizza market. According to Technomic Ignite data, Pizza Hut’s 2022 sales were $5.5 billion, marking a 0.4% decline from 2021. Conversely, primary competitors Domino’s, Papa Johns, Little Caesars, and Marco’s were all positive.
Since Graves came on board, Pizza Hut U.S.’s respective quarterly performance has been:
- Q1 2022, -6% same-store sales and flat unit growth
- Q2 2022, -4% same-store sales and flat unit growth
- Q3 2022, +1% same-store sales
- Q4 2022, +4% same-store sales growth and flat unit growth
- Q1 2023, +8% same-store sales growth and flat unit growth
- Q2 2023, +1% same-store sales growth
- Q3 2023, flat same-store sales
- Q4 2023, -4% same-store sales
Before Pizza Hut, Graves spent several years at KFC U.S., leading the marketing strategy, and he was responsible for much of the food innovation that helped boost KFC’s turnaround. Before joining Yum Brands in 2016, Graves spent much of his career Procter & Gamble.
Notably, Graves’ departure comes about a month after the chain’s COO Chequan Lewis left the company to pursue another opportunity. It also marks the second leader of a major pizza chain leaving within a week, following Rob Lynch’s departure from Papa Johns Interantional on March 14 to lead Shake Shack.
Pizza Hut operates nearly 18,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. Pizza Hut U.S. represents 7% of Yum Brands’ operating profit.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]