Pizza Hut Forges Global Alliance With Toyota To Explore Fully-Autonomous Delivery Vehicles

How pizzas are delivered, even made, may soon change following an announcement from Pizza Hut and Toyota, with the brands collaborating on big data to advance delivery intelligence and to explore the future of pizza delivery and other initiatives to improve mobility around the world.

it's a fresh nod to the ongoing Delivery trend that is sweeping the food and beverage industry internationally, with a continued rise in technology facilitating deliveries and digital ordering. Find out more on the topic in last November's foodwatching Australia & Asia report, Signed Sealed, Delivered here.

Toyota unveiled designs of a self-driving concept vehicle called e-Palette at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, and Pizza Hut is one of the founding members of a new "mobility service business alliance" that also includes Amazon, Didi, Mazda and Uber.

The announcement follows a number of initiatives from Pizza Hut created to provide the best delivery experience, including a new delivery algorithm that drastically improves the accuracy and reliability of deliveries, new delivery pouches able to keep pizzas up to 15 degrees hotter and a pilot test of beer and wine delivery in the U.S.

"In our ongoing and relentless pursuit to own and define the modern pizza experience for our customers, we are focused on technology-based solutions that enable our team members and drivers to deliver even better customer experiences," said Artie Starrs, President, Pizza Hut, U.S. "With Toyota, we are excited to be partnering with an undisputed leader in human mobility with a reputation for innovation, reliability and efficiency, as we define the pizza delivery experience of the future."

The new mobility service business alliance will leverage Toyota's proprietary Mobility Services Platform (MSPF) to develop a suite of connected mobility solutions and a flexible, purpose-built fully-autonomous vehicle. The alliance will create a broad-based ecosystem of hardware and software support designed to help a range of companies utilize advanced mobility technology to better serve customers. Toyota plans to implement testing of the e-Palette Vehicle Concept in several regions, including the United States, as early as 2020.

For Pizza Hut, the e-Palette solution could support the company's delivery business in the future or, given the flexibility of the e-Palette design, could even serve as a mobile kitchen in areas of the world where such an experience would match consumer interests.

"We are truly inspired to be part of this alliance, as the visions for our brand and those of Toyota are very similar," said Milind Pant, President, Pizza Hut International. "We are about making it easier to get a better pizza and Toyota is about providing mobility for all. Toyota is an exceptional fit as a technology partner to accelerate our commitment to the best delivery experience."

Find out more about Pizza Hut on the brand's website.