Panama Welcomes Pizza Hut Back as They Prepare to Open Two Restaurants
The fast-food chain will return to the Panamanian market under the operation of Prestige Holdings Limited, a group from Trinidad and Tobago that plans to open two restaurants during 2026. The company has already begun hiring staff for kitchen, customer service, and supervisory positions.
Pizza Hut returns to Panama, after being out of the market since December 2022, when the company Franquicias Panameñas closed the 12 branches that operated in the country. Most residents felt that Covid was the cause of the closures. In August 2025, Prestige Holdings signed a Development Incentive Agreement with Pizza Hut International, through which it obtained the rights to develop and manage new restaurants of the chain within Panama.
Pizza Hut left Panama in December 2022 due to economic losses and strategic restructuring by its local franchisee, Franquicias Panameñas, which closed all 12 remaining locations after 35 years in the country. The company shifted its focus and resources toward expanding and renovating its more profitable brands, KFC and Dairy Queen
Reasons for the Closure
- Economic Pressures: The chain suffered consistent financial losses in the local market
- Strategic Shift: Franquicias Panameñas chose to optimize operations by moving away from Pizza Hut to concentrate investments on KFC and Dairy Queen.
Corporate Retrenchment: This followed a broader trend for the franchisee, which had already dropped the Taco Bell brand in Panama a few years prior in 2018.
