You can now get a diploma in pizza. They always said you can be anything you want to be — and now Pizza Hut has given new meaning to that popular phrase. Pizza Hut has actually teamed up with a college in the UK to offer a deliciously off-the-wall degree dedicated to the art of pizza.
Happy to announce that I’ve decided to go back to school https://t.co/Dh4PKxM1N7
— Kaitlyn Schallhorn (@K_Schallhorn) December 6, 2015
Food World News reports that 1,500 students will get a crack at the program at Manchester Metropolitan University. It will work as an apprenticeship, with students being able to enroll in different levels of education regarding the popular dish.
One thing’s for sure: Pizza all over the world is about to get much more delicious.
Get a degree in pizza? At first, looks like credential inflation. But really Pizza Hut is trying to fill skills gap. https://t.co/3X0oE58soW
— Ryan Craig (@ryancraigap) December 6, 2015
The program will split time between classes and time at actual Pizza Hut locations to give students a wide range of skills from pizza production to financial analysis.
Skills minister Nick Boles recently sat down to discuss the new diploma in pizza.
“Over the next few years we will work hard to provide our apprentices and team members with the best training and development so that we can equip them with skills for life, not just for working in a restaurant,” Nick told the news outlet. “Apprenticeships add value to our businesses and workforce right across the economy. These apprenticeships at Pizza Hut Restaurants will offer even more people the opportunity to gain skills and knowledge while working.”
KFC and McDonald’s are actually doing the same thing– offering students ways to get educated in their particular area of business, the Telegraph reports. In fact, KFC launched a program in 2012 designed to put 20 restaurant managers through a three-year course. They spent £800,000 on the program.
It seems that the diploma in pizza is actually a useful one. Many might be quick to put down such a silly sounding degree, but the truth is that the Pizza Hut program is going to offer students life skills as well as skills in the restaurant industry.
Kathryn Austin, the director of Marketing and HR at Pizza Hut, said, “The launch of our apprenticeships comes at an exciting time for our business as we continue to make headway in our refurbishment programme.”
She added, “Over the next few years we will work hard to provide our apprentices and team members with the best training and development so that we can equip them with skills for life, not just for working in a restaurant.”
The restaurant industry is a difficult one to work in. The fast pace, multi-tasking, and need for customer service skills are enough to challenge anyone.
@NickBolesMP launches @pizzahut #apprenticeship programme. First degree-level apprenticeship for restaurant trade https://t.co/lcsFXbHXj3
— Apprenticeship Guide (@theapp_guide) December 2, 2015
“I would encourage more businesses to take the lead from companies like Pizza Hut Restaurants to start or expand their apprenticeship programmes,” Nick Boles said.
This streamlined approach to educating pupils in the pizza business will help Pizza Hut in the long run. Many managers started at the bottom of the ladder and worked their way up with no formal training in management, food production, or finance.
This program will make sure that managers, assistant managers, and those working on the corporate level will start their positions with the knowledge needed to succeed from the start.
Many restaurant companies have their own way of educating staff, but this new trend to break into college programs can only help to make Pizza Hut better in the long run.
For now, if you’re working towards your diploma in pizza, you can actually say that you’re “studying” when you order pizza from the local Pizza Hut at college. How cool is that?
[Image via Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]
