Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 by two brothers and university students, Dan and Frank Carney, who opened a pizzeria in Wichita, Kansas. After a friend convinced them they could run their own business, the brothers borrowed about $600 from their mother to get it started together with an investor.

The restaurant launched an aggressive advertising campaign to make itself known and quickly caught on in its city. Convinced their business could expand to other U.S. cities, the Carney brothers hired Wichita architect Richard D. Burke to design new locations with a red, hat-shaped roof that would set them apart from the competition. Pizza Hut franchises began opening in the mid-1960s, reaching 310 locations by 1969.

In the early 1960s the business went through financial difficulties caused by growing too fast and a lack of coordination between franchises. In 1970 the Carney brothers turned Pizza Hut into a corporation, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. With better organization across locations and strong growth that took it to other countries, the chain caught the attention of multinational PepsiCo, which bought the company in 1977.

In 1977 PepsiCo created the subsidiary Tricon Restaurants, later known as YUM Brands, which runs the Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell restaurants.

Grupo Comidas has extensive experience running restaurants, as shown by Pizza Hut’s success throughout Honduras: more than 38 years with the brand and a presence across the country.