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At one time, Pizza Hut was the top choice for parents and children to enjoy its unlimited dining experience, help-yourself greens station, and make-your-own dessert.

Yet not as many customers are choosing the restaurant nowadays, and it is reducing a significant portion of its UK restaurants after being rescued from insolvency for the second instance this calendar year.

“We used to go Pizza Hut when I was a child,” says one London shopper. “It was a regular outing, you'd go on a Sunday – make a day of it.” Today, aged 24, she says “it's fallen out of favor.”

For a diner in her twenties, some of the very things Pizza Hut has been known and loved for since it launched in the UK in the mid-20th century are now less appealing.

“The manner in which they do their all-you-can-eat and their salad bar, it seems as if they are cutting corners and have reduced quality... They provide so much food and you're like ‘How is that possible?’”

As grocery costs have increased significantly, Pizza Hut's buffet-style service has become very expensive to run. The same goes for its locations, which are being sliced from 132 to a smaller figure.

The company, in common with competitors, has also experienced its expenses increase. Earlier this year, labor expenses rose due to increases in the legal wage floor and an rise in employer taxes.

A couple in their thirties and twenties mention they frequently dined at Pizza Hut for a date “every now and then”, but now they choose Domino's and think Pizza Hut is “too expensive”.

Depending on your order, Pizza Hut and Domino's rates are close, says a food expert.

Even though Pizza Hut does offer off-premise options through external services, it is missing out to larger chains which focus exclusively to the delivery sector.

“The rival chain has taken over the off-premise pizza industry thanks to aggressive marketing and ongoing discounts that make customers feel like they're getting a bargain, when in reality the base costs are relatively expensive,” notes the expert.

But for these customers it is worth it to get their evening together sent directly.

“We absolutely dine at home now rather than we eat out,” comments Joanne, echoing current figures that show a drop in people visiting casual and fast-food restaurants.

Over the summer, casual and fast-food restaurants saw a 6% drop in customers compared to the year before.

Additionally, another rival to ordered-in pies: the cook-at-home oven pizza.

Will Hawkley, head of leisure and hospitality at a major consultancy, explains that not only have supermarkets been offering high-quality ready-to-bake pizzas for quite a while – some are even selling countertop ovens.

“Evolving preferences are also playing a factor in the popularity of quick-service brands,” says Mr. Hawkley.

The growing trend of high protein diets has driven sales at poultry outlets, while reducing sales of high-carbohydrate options, he notes.

Since people go out to eat not as often, they may prefer a more premium experience, and Pizza Hut's classic look with comfortable booths and nostalgic table settings can feel more retro than premium.

The “explosion of high-quality pizzerias” over the last several years, such as popular brands, has “completely altered the general opinion of what quality pizza is,” says the industry commentator.

“A light, fresh, easy-to-digest product with a carefully curated additions, not the excessively rich, thick and crowded pizzas of the past. This, in my view, is what's resulted in Pizza Hut's decline,” she comments.

“Who would choose to spend nearly eighteen pounds on a tiny, mediocre, unsatisfying pizza from a franchise when you can get a stunning, expertly crafted classic pizza for under a tenner at one of the many authentic Italian pizzerias around the country?

“It's a no-brainer.”

A mobile pizza vendor, who operates Smokey Deez based in a regional area explains: “People haven’t lost interest in pizza – they just want higher quality at a fair price.”

The owner says his adaptable business can offer high-quality pie at accessible prices, and that Pizza Hut had difficulty because it failed to adapt with evolving tastes.

At Pizzarova in a city in southwest England, the proprietor says the sector is broadening but Pizza Hut has not provided anything new.

“Currently available are by-the-slice options, London pizza, thin crust, fermented dough, Neapolitan, rectangular – it's a wonderful array for a pizza-loving consumer to explore.”

The owner says Pizza Hut “needs to reinvent itself” as younger people don't have any sense of nostalgia or loyalty to the brand.

In recent years, Pizza Hut's customer base has been sliced up and allocated to its trendier, more nimble alternatives. To maintain its high labor and location costs, it would have to increase costs – which industry analysts say is challenging at a time when family finances are tightening.

A senior executive of Pizza Hut's overseas branches said the acquisition aimed “to protect our customer service and retain staff where possible”.

The executive stated its first focus was to maintain service at the open outlets and off-premise points and to help employees through the restructure.

Yet with large sums going into running its restaurants, it likely can't afford to invest too much in its takeaway operation because the sector is “complex and using existing third-party platforms comes at a expense”, analysts say.

But, he adds, cutting its costs by exiting oversaturated towns and city centres could be a good way to adjust.