Pizza Hut, Batesville, and CANA?   A reader sent me an article earlier this week that brings these three topics into a Venn diagram sort of picture for me.

 

First of all, the article sent to me, which you can access here, was concerning the purchase of Pizza Hut (all except the Mainland China business parts) by private equity player LongRange Capital.  This article points out that the price paid for the Pizza Hut operation was approximately $1.5 billion.

 

If you are wondering how a pizza company purchase fits into Funeral Director Daily you need to remember that it was in late 2022 that LongRange Capital announced that it would be acquiring Batesville at a reported price of about $761.5 million.  That transaction closed in early 2023 and Batesville has been under LongRange ownership since then.

 

This purchase now puts Batesville and Pizza Hut under the same investor umbrella.  And, it is interesting to note that the reported cost to acquire Pizza Hut was virtually twice what LongRange paid to acquire Batesville about 4 years ago.

 

How does CANA — the Cremation Association of North America fit into the picture?  Well, it just so happens that at this year’s national convention — the 108th Cremation Innovation Convention, of which you can access information here, to be held in August, yours truly will be one of the invited speakers.

 

The topic I was asked to speak on was “Fads, Trends, and Traditions of Death Care“.  I follow fads, trends, and traditions and try to figure out what fads will fade and which will become trends and then of those trends, which trends will become traditions.  And, as I’ve been preparing my remarks I have a couple slides about how “societal habits can change traditions”.  In a simple illustration of that thought process I’ve used the change in consumer habits data from a 1990’s perspective that 65-75% of pizza was consumed on the premises where it was purchased (like at the Pizza Hut iconic restaurants) to a 2020’s perspective where about 75-80% of pizza is consumed off the premises from where it was purchased from the likes of Dominos, Little Caesars, and other delivery and take-out establishments.

 

So. . . that might be a little stretch but I was able to form my Venn diagram of Pizza Hut, Batesville, and my presentation at CANA.

 

• Related Article —  LongRange Capital to acquire Pizza Hut, excluding Mainland China, from Yum Brands.  LongRange Capital website  —  June 16, 2026
• Related Article —  LongRange Capital completes acquisition of Batesville Services.  LongRange Capital website —  February 1, 2023

 

Here’s the teaser on my CANA Convention presentation as it appears on the CANA Convention website —  “We will examine the history of funeral service and cremation in the United States and look at how past and recent Fads, Trends, and Traditions may affect the profession in the future. There will be time for a question-and-answer period.”

 

More than you need to know —  According to August 2024 data, here are the Top 7 Pizza sales establishments in the United States.  Please note that all except Pizza Hut are take-out or delivery exclusively with the exception that some of the establishments may have a few booths or chairs to eat in the same building that the pizza is produced in.

1. Dominos  –  $9.5 billion in annual sales
2. Pizza Hut –  $5.5 billion in annual sales
3. Papa Johns –  $3.8 billion in annual sales
4. Little Caesars –  $3.5 billion in annual sales
5. Casey’s General Stores — $1.5 billion (pizza only) in annual sales
6. Marcos Pizza – $1.06 billion in annual sales
7. Papa Murphy’s – $728 million in annual sales

 

An interesting note about Casey’s General Stores —  If you are not from the Midwest you probably don’t know about Casey’s General Stores.  They are historically convenience stores (2,950 of them and growing) located in smaller communities that also have a kitchen for making take-out and delivery pizzas.  Here’s an article from Pizza PMQ that asks the question if they “really are” a pizza chain.  By the way, I would suggest that about half the time my family orders pizza for take-out it is ordered from Casey’s!

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• NFDA study finds families seek more personalized, transparent end-of-life services.  National Funeral Directors Association
• Everest Funeral Concierge parters with WTW.  Morningstar
• City plans “scattering garden” for people’s ashes in bid to save burial plots.  Belfast Live (Ireland)

 

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