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Product debut delivers half a billion dollars in new sales
With research showing that 74 percent of Americans eat pasta at least once a week, Pizza Hut saw a business opportunity to expand its market by introducing family-sized pasta dinners, primarily for take-out and delivery. The resulting Tuscani Pasta Dinners are the winner of this year's MenuMasters award for "Best Menu Revamp."
Kelly Buckley, Pizza Hut's chief food innovation officer, says: "We saw an unmet need with consumers to provide restaurantquality pasta that's a great value for the family to enjoy with the convenience of delivery. No one else was doing that, so we were uniquely positioned to fill it."
After about a year of research and development, Pizza Hut rolled out two Tuscani baked pasta dinners last spring. Both use rotini pasta, chosen for its good "sauce cling," and are topped with melted cheese. Meaty Marinara Baked Tuscani Pasta features a tomato sauce prepared with beef and pork. Creamy Chicken Alfredo Baked Tuscani Pasta combines the pasta with grilled chicken breast strips and creamy Alfredo sauce.
Weighing in at about three pounds each, the dinners are positioned to appeal to families and feed four to six people. The nationwide price for each is $12.99. The dinners include five breadsticks.
"Our job in food innovation is always to find...