{"id":144745,"date":"2026-09-06T09:35:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T09:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/144745\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T09:35:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T09:35:14","slug":"we-were-100-confident-that-if-stores-continued-to-come-out-that-werent-profitable-enough-conflic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/144745\/","title":{"rendered":"“We were 100% confident that if stores continued to come out that weren’t profitable enough, conflic.."},"content":{"rendered":"

Interview with PH Korea CEO Kim Jong-un
Changing Pizza Hut with the profitability of affiliated stores
Focus on profitability instead of expanding its appearance excessively
New non-business stores Boldly preventing new stores from opening by 20% in sales per store
Improve profitability by strengthening product competitiveness
Expand marketing in the second half of the year to target young customers <\/p>\n

\"Kim \uc0ac\uc9c4 \ud655\ub300 Kim Jong-un, CEO of PH Korea. PH Korea <\/p>\n

“We were 100% confident that if stores continued to come out that weren’t profitable enough, conflicts with merchants like before would arise again.”<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with Maeil Business, PH Korea CEO Kim Jong-un stressed that the priority is to create a structure in which affiliates can actually make profits rather than unreasonable store expansion in order to make another leap forward of Pizza Hut Korea. Introducing the case of blocking five new stores that were judged not to have enough business feasibility, CEO Kim said, “Before opening a store, we need to carefully examine whether we can generate sufficient sales and profits in the business district.”<\/p>\n

Led by Korean Pizza Hut, which started anew in June<\/p>\n

Korea Pizza Hut, which suffered from lawsuits for the difference in deposits, made a fresh start in June by switching to the PH Korea system. PH Korea is a company established by KClavis Investment, an investment company, and Winter Gold, a private equity fund (PE) manager. The two companies formed a consortium earlier this year to acquire the goodwill of Pizza Hut Korea in Korea, and are continuing their franchise business through PH Korea. CEO Kim is the first CEO of PH Korea to lead the restoration of franchise trust and brand competitiveness.<\/p>\n

CEO Kim’s experience of Pizza Hut’s rehabilitation process inside was the decisive background for taking the CEO position. “While Pizza Hut went through the difficult process of rehabilitation, I experienced it firsthand as an employee and heard a lot of the voices of franchisees up close,” he said. “The biggest reason I took over the CEO position is the responsibility that the same thing should never be repeated again.”<\/p>\n

\"Kim \uc0ac\uc9c4 \ud655\ub300 Kim Jong-un, CEO of PH Korea. PH Korea <\/p>\n

CEO Kim is an on-site food and beverage (F&B) manager who has experienced store operation, profit and loss management, franchise management, and new business development in the restaurant industry for more than 20 years. He joined the Outback Steakhouse in 2002 and gained experience in store management and store ownership, and later led the planning of new businesses, opening stores, and establishing an operating system.<\/p>\n

After joining Pizza Hut Korea in 2022, he oversaw the operation and development of direct management and affiliated stores nationwide as COO and General Sales Development (CDOO). As he had communicated directly with franchisees on the spot before taking office as CEO in June this year, the first thing he took after taking office was the profitability and stable business environment of franchisees.<\/p>\n

CEO Kim said, “We write a CEO letter every month to share the company’s performance and management direction and actively reflect the voices of the field in management,” adding, “New stores are also judged based on whether sufficient profitability is secured by reviewing expected sales and profits first rather than expanding the number of stores.”<\/p>\n

In fact, during the recent branch review process, five branches that were judged to have insufficient business feasibility were blocked. This is based on the judgment that if the number of new stores continues to increase while profitability is not guaranteed, the burden on franchisees will eventually increase and conflicts such as in the past can be repeated.<\/p>\n

It is explained that the improvement in franchise profitability is also seen in actual indicators. Currently, the average sales per store of franchisees are up more than 20% year-on-year. All 78 stores that were subject to renewal this year have completed renewal. While there are no additional requests for closure, the company explains that the willingness to open new stores is increasing.<\/p>\n

“244 operating stores will increase to 350 within 3 years”<\/p>\n

While prioritizing franchise profitability, it did not close the door to expanding its appearance. Pizza Hut, which currently operates 244 stores nationwide, confirmed the opening of more than 10 new stores in the second half of the year. The goal is to increase the number of stores to about 250 by the end of the year and to 350 stores within the next three years.<\/p>\n

However, CEO Kim did not put any meaning on the number 350 itself. The number of 350 does not necessarily mean that we will increase the number of stores alone, he said. “It is important to open stores that have sufficient business feasibility and support each store to grow stably.”<\/p>\n

\"Kim \uc0ac\uc9c4 \ud655\ub300 Kim Jong-un, CEO of PH Korea. PH Korea <\/p>\n

The competitive environment in the Korean pizza market is getting fiercer. Amid the growing consumer burden on dining out and delivery due to high prices, frozen pizza and mid- to low-priced brands have increased their options significantly. As pizza, which was considered a special dining menu in the past, has become a daily menu, differentiation between brands has also become more important.<\/p>\n

CEO Kim put “the basics of products” as a differentiator for Pizza Hut rather than price or discount competition.<\/p>\n

“The difference between Pizza Hut is the natural taste of pizza,” he said. “The strength is that we have kept the recipe and manufacturing process of Pizza Hut from dough to sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.” “There are aspects that have not fully informed the basics and brand assets of these products,” he said. “In the future, we will focus on actively promoting ‘Why Pizza Hut Pizza Is Delicious’ and becoming a brand that is selected again by product power rather than price or discount competition.”<\/p>\n

It also responds to changing consumption patterns. Pizza Hut is targeting the demand for small meals by introducing a single-person pizza. The strategy is to introduce products suitable for various situations where consumers eat pizza rather than unconditionally lowering prices at a time when the burden of eating out and delivery has increased.<\/p>\n

It will also expand its investment in brand marketing. We are increasing brand marketing investments from the second half of the year, which have not been sufficiently carried out in recent years, and preparing for large-scale advertising campaigns in the fourth quarter. It focuses on promoting Pizza Hut’s product competitiveness, such as good ingredients, recipes, and manufacturing processes, away from discount-oriented marketing. It also plans to expand its contact point with young customers through new products.<\/p>\n

Planning a flagship store to experience Pizza Hut next year<\/p>\n

CEO Kim said, “We are also planning to experience Pizza Hut new next year through products, spaces (flagship stores), and goods,” adding, “Ultimately, the goal is to make customers visit Pizza Hut again because of taste and brand experience, not because of discounts.”<\/p>\n

Support for co-prosperity with franchisees will also continue. Pizza Hut paid 50% of the renewal fee for 78 stores subject to renewal this year. The remaining 50% were also fully returned to the cost of replacing the sign, lowering the actual cost burden on franchisees. It is also considering financial support measures to reduce the initial investment burden of new merchants and to start its business stably.<\/p>\n

CEO Kim stressed, “The key to win-win is to create an environment that can increase actual profitability and sustain business in a stable manner, rather than just one-time support for both existing and new stores.”<\/p>\n

Another key asset in the process of rebuilding Pizza Hut is brand heritage. “When I bring up Pizza Hut, many people talk about the moment they were with their families,” he said. “There are not many brands that are in the memory of so many consumers, and it is a powerful asset of Pizza Hut itself.”<\/p>\n

However, he thinks that he will not rely solely on memories of the past. CEO Kim said, “Based on good ingredients and pizza Hut’s recipes, I want to show you again that it is a ‘pizza that is delicious even if you eat it now,’ and added, “The goal is to make young customers feel, ‘Mom and Dad were eating really delicious pizza.’ “We will make Pizza Hut’s heritage and product competitiveness a brand that both merchants and customers can trust and find again by reviving it to meet the current level of consumers,” he stressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Interview with PH Korea CEO Kim Jong-unChanging Pizza Hut with the profitability of affiliated storesFocus on profitability instead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[73434,20695,73436,73435,33078,141,31,73433,34],"class_list":["post-144745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-350-stores","tag-ceo","tag-for-23-years","tag-franchisees","tag-heritage","tag-kim-jong-un","tag-korea","tag-korean-pizza-hut","tag-north-korea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}