Well, I have to hand it to Pizza Hut for being the first mainstream fast food chain to jump on the Natural wagon. I saw an advertisement today for Pizza Hut's new "Natural" pizza. What's so natural about this pizza? Well, I'm-a-gonna-tell-ya.
1. Multi-Grain Crust (note - not organic, not whole wheat, but a multitude of grains)
2. Sauce "made-with" organic tomatoes
3. Choice of new "natural" toppings (which from the images they showed consists of sliced tomatoes and begs the question - are the rest of the toppings not-natural?)
4. "All-Natural" mozzarella cheese
It's just yet another example of the bastardization of the term "natural." Junk food purveyors of the world are all racing to slap the term "natural" on their packaging to win the hearts, taste buds and market share of pseudo-conscious consumers. What's next - Organic Special Sauce?
Oh - and I should note here that my local Pizza Hut has a Hummer delivery vehicle parked out front of its store. I wrote a sharply worded email to corporate HQ but have yet to receive a response.
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Hello, my name is Eric Haley. I'm the vice president of communications for a new organic, eco-friendly pizza chain out of Fort Lauderdale, FL. I'm glad to see your skeptical of Pizza Hut's new roll out of their attempts to reach the organic consumer. My company, Pizza Fusion (www.pizzafusion.com), began franchising our business model in 2007 and have since sold almost 70 restaurants in 10 states. Our commitment to food quality and eco-friendly restaurant practices have caught the attention of entrepreneurs, consumers and big chains, like Pizza Hut, over the last year. This was seen about four months back when Subway announced the launch of their new 'Eco Stores,' emulating our LEED certified, eco-friendly restaurant platform we mandate in the buildout and operations of all our restaurants. While you may not have heard of us as we're in the preliminary phases of our national expansion, the restaurant industry, media in particular, has certainly taken notice to our holistic approach to socially conscious operations. Pizza Hut’s ‘The Natural’ is just another example that has made us smile as we watch our influence continue to snowball on the restaurant industry. We expect it only to continue as we expand our reach across the U.S.
For your reference, we serve a more than 75% (percentage reflects the inclusion of our drinks and individual ingredients all the way down to the spices and herbs we use) organic menu. Beyond our organic menu of gourmet pizza, sandwiches, salads, beer and wine, we proudly offer health conscious alternatives for people with selective diets and food allergies. For example, we serve gluten-free pizza, brownies and beer for our friends with celiac disease. Vegans and vegetarians love us for our soy mozzarella (used in our ‘Very Vegan Pizza’) and vegan brownies. We also offer a healthier multi-grain crust for the carb conscious eater (which again you see in Pizza Hut's 'Natural' pizza).
Our mission is to uphold the highest level of integrity in all we do, from the quality and origin of our food to our care for the health of our customers and the environment.
Below I’ve included some detailed information on our environmental initiatives for your review.
PIZZA FUSION'S ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES:
In our restaurants:
• Offsetting 100% of our power consumption in our restaurants with the purchase of Green-e certified renewable energy certificates
• Promoting sustainable agriculture by serving a more than 98% organic menu
• Building our restaurants according to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standards set forth by the United States Green Building Council by utilizing a variety of unique energy efficient tactics and eco-friendly products (making us the first and only national restaurant concept to do so)
• Delivering our food in company owned hybrid vehicles
• Recycling and giving customers discounts for bringing back their pizza boxes to recycle them
• Using only eco-friendly cleaners to sanitize all our stores
• Serving our food in containers that are made 100% from corn starch and are designed to decompose in landfills in 60 days
• Using only spudware utensils that are made 100% from potatoes that biodegrade in 60 days
• Recycling the heat from our ovens to heat the water in our stores; eliminating the need for water heaters
• Eliminating the use of air heating units by redistributing the heat from our ovens to warm the restaurants in our northern locations
• Using a greywater system that recycles waste water into our toilets and saves 1/3 of our restaurants’ water usage per year
• Selling and providing our employees only with eco-apparel made from 100% organic cotton
• Using 100% post consumer toilet paper and paper towels in all our bathrooms
• Printing our in-store graphics on a banner material made from 100% recycled soda bottles and printed using non-VOC inks
• Using eco-friendly paints from Green Planet Paints
• Using Compact Fluorescent (CF) bulbs in our stores which saves on energy consumption
• Using seat cushions made from Soybean Oil, instead of petroleum based foam
• Installing counter tops made from 100% recycled detergent bottles
• Using panels from 3-form, a recycled materials paper company with a minimal environmental footprint, to build shelves and counter tops in our stores
• Using furniture made from reclaimed wood
• Using pizza peels, plateware and cutting boards made entirely from bamboo
• Utilizing a cradle-to-cradle approach by reusing glass bottles from our stores to manufacture countertops for our future locations
• Installing a smart lighting system in our bathrooms that automatically turns off when the bathroom is vacant
• Using drywall in our build-out that is 95% post-consumer content and locally manufactured
• Using FSC (Forest Stewardship Council - http://www.fsc.org/en/about) certified wood to build our cabinets and wood fixtures
• All appliances are Energy Star Certified
• Using insulation in our restaurants made from recycled blue jeans
• Using the most efficient HVAC unit on the market
• Using 30% recaptured industrial concrete
• Using ceiling panels made from 74% recycled aluminum cans and 24% post industrial metals
• Installing USG Gypsum Board made from pre-used drywall
• Installing bamboo veneer face coverings for fixtures
• Using ceiling baffles made from recycled composite board
• Manufacturing bathrooms sinks made entirely from bamboo for our bathrooms
• Installing bamboo flooring in our restaurants, instead of wood flooring
I encourage you to check out our menu and our approach to restaurant service in further detail at our website at www.pizzafusion.com. You might also want to visit our press room where you can see how much the media has taken notice to our unique business model. Thank you again for your interest in true organic options and for critically looking at Pizza Hut's attempts to capture that audience.
Sincerely,
Eric Haley
Vice President of Communications and Media Relations
Pizza Fusion Holdings
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