Pizza Hut launches pasta delivery

VAUGHAN— Pizza Hut changed its name to Pasta Hut...at least temporarily. 

Following a successful launch in the United States of its Tuscani Pasta, the company has started delivering the dish to Canadian households.

Available in meaty marinara and creamy chicken alfredo varieties, the three pounds of oven baked rotini pasta sells for $15.99, and is enough for a family of four.

“Canadians consume pasta two to three times a week,” said Pizza Hut Canada’s director of marketing Dave Ross.

“When you look at the popularity in regards to how much they like pizza and pasta, there certainly was a need.”

The product is good timing for the company as Ross said sales of Tuscani Pasta have already reached half a billion dollars in markets around the world. Pizza Hut is the first major pizza chain to deliver pasta both in Canada and the United States.

Delivery varies depending on the region of Canada, but the price starts at $14.99 and can include 10 breadsticks. In other areas, breadsticks are extra.

Ross said while the product was developed before the current economic struggles, the pasta manages to fills a niche for customers and will be a permanent fixture on the Pizza Hut menu.

“People are looking for more in-home meal solutions,” he said. “Initial indications are that it’s done well in its first week and it continues to grow.”

An expansion of the Tuscani line with other pasta varieties is also a possibility, Ross said.