Papa John's International, Inc.,
trading as
A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...
Papa Johns, is an American
pizza
Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...
restaurant chain. , it is the fourth largest
pizza delivery
Pizza delivery is a service in which a pizzeria or pizza chain delivers a pizza to a customer. An order is typically made either by telephone or over the internet, in which the customer can request pizza type and size, and other items to be ...
restaurant chain
A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many pa ...
in the United States, with headquarters in the
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
and
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
metropolitan areas.
Papa John's
global presence has reached over 5,500 locations in 49 countries and territories, and it is the world's third-largest pizza delivery company.
History
1984–2009
The Papa John's restaurant was founded in 1984 when "Papa"
John Schnatter
John Hampton "Papa John" Schnatter (born November 22 or 23, 1961) is an American entrepreneur who founded the Papa John's pizza restaurant chain in 1984. Schnatter started the business in the back of his father's tavern after selling his car an ...
installed an oven inside a
broom closet
A broom (also known as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool, consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. It is thus a v ...
in the back of his father's tavern, Mick's Lounge, in
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio Riv ...
. He sold his
1971 Camaro Z28 to purchase US$1,600 worth of used pizza equipment and began selling pizzas to the tavern's customers out of the converted closet.
His pizzas proved sufficiently popular that a year later he moved into an adjoining space. Dipping sauce specifically for pizza was invented by Papa John's Pizza that same year, and has since become popular when eating pizza, especially the crust.
The company went public in 1993 following an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
, becoming listed on the
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...
under the symbol . A year later it had 500 stores, and by 1997 it had opened 1,500 stores. In 2009, Schnatter bought the Camaro back after offering a reward of $250,000 for the car.
2010s
The first notable
Bitcoin
Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; Currency symbol, sign: ₿) is the first Decentralized application, decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 when an unknown entity published a white paper under ...
retail transaction involving physical goods was paid on May 22, 2010, by exchanging 10,000 mined BTC for two pizzas delivered from a Papa John's on Atlantic Boulevard in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
. Some cryptocurrency users have celebrated May 22 as "Bitcoin Pizza Day".
On January 1, 2018, Schnatter stepped down as CEO of Papa John's Pizza in favor of company President
Steve Ritchie; Schnatter remained chairman. In February 2018, Papa John's and the
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
ended their sponsorship agreement after Schnatter's criticism of the NFL made headlines.
On July 11, 2018, news outlets reported that during a conference call with the marketing agency Laundry Service that was working under contract for Papa John's, Schnatter had used the word "
nigger
In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...
" by saying "
Colonel Sanders
Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890
December 16, 1980) was an American businessman and founder of fast food chicken restaurant chain KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken (now known as KFC). He later acted as the company's brand ambassador and sym ...
called blacks niggers and Sanders never faced public backlash." Schnatter said that referencing the quote by the
KFC
KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...
founder was meant to convey his dislike for racism. After the call, the owner of the marketing agency moved to end their contract with Papa John's. Schnatter resigned as chairman of the board on the day the incident was reported.
After the incident, Ritchie apologized in an open letter, and ordered the company's workforce to undergo bias and diversity training.
On July 26, 2018, Schnatter filed a lawsuit against Papa John's Pizza to give him access to the company's internal books and records after they fired him from the company following the teleconference call scandal. He describes the company's procedures as an "unexplained and heavy-handed way" to cut ties between him and the company that he founded. In addition to preventing him from accessing information, the corporation also implemented a
poison pill strategy in order to limit Schnatter's chances of buying back a
majority stake
A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the maj ...
in the company.
On February 4, 2019, it was announced that the activist hedge fund
Starboard Value, which had played a large role in turning around the troubled
Olive Garden
Olive Garden is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. It is a unit of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which is headquartered in Orange County, Florida. As of 2022, Olive Garden restaurants accounted for ...
restaurant chain, would be investing $200 million into Papa John's Pizza and that Starboard could possibly invest an additional $50 million by March 29, 2019. It was simultaneously announced that Starboard Value CEO
Jeff Smith would become the new Papa John's chairman and that Anthony Sanfilippo, former CEO of the gaming company
Pinnacle Entertainment
Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. was an American gambling and hospitality company. It was acquired by Penn National Gaming in 2018. At the time of acquisition, it operated sixteen casino properties, located in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mis ...
, would be another addition to the company's board. Following that announcement, Ritchie said that he hoped the deal would put an end to the ongoing feud with Schnatter, telling CNBC's David Faber, "Obviously, we're very hopeful that we can bring John along." However, Schnatter has expressed concerns that Ritchie is not the right executive for Papa John's.
On March 5, 2019, Papa John's announced a settlement with Schnatter under which he would resign from the company's board of directors at the company's annual meeting on April 30 or when a mutually acceptable independent director was appointed to replace him, whichever came first. Schnatter agreed to dismiss two lawsuits filed against the company and to withdraw his plan to run for a seat on the board at the annual meeting. Papa John's agreed to remove the "acting in concert" provisions from its "poison pill" plan that prevented Schnatter from communicating with other company shareholders. Schnatter, who then still controlled 31% of Papa John's shares, issued a statement saying he was "thankful that I've been able to resolve these important issues" and hoped everyone could now "focus on the company's business without the need for additional litigation". The company also agreed to remove a requirement that
Starboard Value, which owns about 10% of the company, must vote in favor of the incumbent board.
In March 2019, NBA Hall of Famer
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...
joined Papa John's board of directors and became a spokesman for the brand. The next year, Papa John's introduced the Shaq-a-Roni, a pizza dedicated to O'Neal.
Amidst these changes, in May 2019, Schnatter began selling off his shares in the company, initially starting with 9.8 million shares. Throughout the next year, he had reduced his stock ownership to just 4%.
On August 27, 2019, Papa John's announced that
Arby's
Arby's is an American fast-food restaurant, fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants. The flagship property of Inspire Brands, it ranked third in systemwide sales in the United States in the quick-service and fast-ca ...
President
Robert M. Lynch would be the new CEO replacing Steve Ritchie, who was handpicked by founder Schnatter to succeed him in 2018.
2020s
In September 2020, Papa John's announced plans to establish a new headquarters in the
Atlanta metropolitan area
Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...
. In November, the company announced its new global headquarters would be located in Three Ballpark Center at
The Battery Atlanta
The Battery Atlanta is a mixed-use development located in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community of Cumberland, Georgi ...
. The existing headquarters in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, a community within the
merged government of Louisville, was retained, and houses the IT, supply chain, and legal departments.
In November 2021, Papa John's announced it was rebranding its logo (by removing the apostrophe and simplifying the design) and store locations.
In March 2022, Papa John's suspended its business operations in Russia in response to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, but independent franchisee-owned locations remained open.
In August 2024, Todd Penegor was named President and CEO.
Operations
Papa John's primarily takes carryout and delivery orders, although some restaurants have tables and chairs for dining in.
Franchise owners pay a one-off franchise fee of
US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
25,000 per restaurant, then a royalty fee of 5% of net sales, plus a charge for advertising of 8% of net sales. The company requires franchisees to have net worth of at least $250,000, the approximate amount of investment needed. Corporate operations look over franchisees to ensure brand consistency. Papa John's International is a publicly traded company.
Based on 2019 sales information provided by Technomic, ''PMQ Pizza Magazine'' reported that the company was the fourth-largest take-out and pizza delivery restaurant chain in the United States. (According to ''PMQ'',
Little Caesars
Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. (doing business as Little Caesars) is an American multinational chain of Pizzeria, pizza restaurants that was formed in 1959. Little Caesars is the fourth largest pizza chain by total sales in the United States b ...
is the third-largest pizza chain.) The company's net profitability though, is far behind its main competitors. In 2014, its net margin was 4.6% of total sales, whereas
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc., commonly referred to as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware-domiciled and headquartered ...
's net margin was 8.2% and
Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands, Inc. (sometimes called simply Yum!) is an American multinational fast food corporation. It is a spin-off of PepsiCo, after they acquired KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. PepsiCo divested the brands in 1997, and these consolidated as ...
, which owns
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut, LLC is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. The chain, headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates 19,866 restaurants worldw ...
, was 7.9%. Its slogan is "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. Papa John's."
Papa John's has over 5,199 establishments—4,456 franchised restaurants operating domestically in all 50 states, and in 44 countries and territories, Papa John's operates 246 "company owned stores" under joint ventures and 35 units in Beijing and North China. In September 2012 the 4,000th Papa John's Pizza restaurant opened, in
New Hyde Park, New York
New Hyde Park is a village in the Towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is the anchor community of the Greater New Hyde Park area. The population was 10,257 at the time of the 2 ...
. The company celebrated the event by giving away 4,000 free pizzas to customers throughout New York City.
In January 2002, Papa John's became the first national pizza chain to make online ordering available to all of its U.S. customers. Most other national chains later added online ordering to their services. On July 10, 2004, Papa John's controlled an estimated 6.6% of the market, according to Technomic.
Franchises outside the U.S.
South Korea
In 2003, Papa John's opened its first branch in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea and the second branch in Garak-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Compared to Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut, which started business in Korea in the 1980s, Papa John's started business late in Korea. In 2006, they opened the 50th restaurant in Seoul. As of the end of 2022, Papa John's has a total of 239 stores in Korea. In other countries, Papa John's has menus which are localized to each country. However, in Korea, Papa John's is selling the original American pizzas with special Korean localized pizzas together. Papa John's also has various side menus such as spaghetti in Korea.
Europe
Papa John's has operated in the United Kingdom since 1999. In July 2015, the company had 300 shops in the UK, although in 2010 it had plans for the number rising to between 400 and 500 within the next five years. In 2023, Papa Johns had plans to open a new takeaway store in
Newcastle
Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
turned down by the
Planning Inspectorate, making it the first organisation in the United Kingdom to have a
planning
Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the cap ...
appeal rejected by the
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 200 ...
on the grounds that to grant permission to open a new takeaway store in the area would "undermine
local authority
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
plans to tackle high local levels of
obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...
".
In March 2024, Papa John's announced it would close 43 "underperforming" stores – almost a tenth of its 430 units in the UK.
Papa John's operates throughout Ireland, with its head office at Ballybrit,
County Galway
County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...
. The company has over 50 locations and operates mobile units around the country. The franchises are often located adjacent to
Supermac's fast food outlets, whose parent company owns the exclusive franchise rights for the chain in Ireland.
Spain is the second most important European market for Papa John's. The chain has been operating in Spain since 2016, and had 42 restaurants by late 2017. In particular, the restaurants achieved a significant presence in the
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
province with more than half of the Spanish restaurants being located there. Papa John's expects to open at least 100 restaurants just in the province of Madrid, as well as expanding to other regions across Spain.
Papa John's also operated in Russia and Belarus with plans to expand to several other European and Central Asian countries.
Papa John's restaurants in Portugal began operating in 2005 but closed some time later.
In Poland, Papa John's opened their first location in 2017.
In 2018, Papa John's opened their first restaurant in
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
, which became the 46th country in the world where the chain is represented.
In May 2019, it was announced that Papa John's would enter the German market by taking over
Halle/Salle-based Uno Pizza and converting their stores into Papa John's, with the aim of opening up to 250 locations in Germany in the following five to seven years.
After a failed step in the early 2000s, in 2019 Papa John's returned to Portugal with a restaurant in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
and plans to expand to other parts of the country.
In the Netherlands Papa John's opened its doors in 2017, starting in Amsterdam and expanding further through the Netherlands in 2019.
Latin America
Papa John's operates in 13 Latin American countries, including Colombia, Chile, and Mexico.
India
Papa John's entered the Indian market in 2006 with its first store opening in
Noida
Noida (), short for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (ISO: ), is a city located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. As per provisional reports of Census of India, the population of Noida in 2011 was ...
, Uttar Pradesh with an aim to open up 100 stores in India. They couldn't keep up the efficient sophisticated ordering technology and fast delivery methods of their rivals Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut in India. When Papa John's started in 2006, Domino's Pizza already had 126 branches. By 2017, Papa John's decided to exit the country completely, having opened only 66 stores and being unable to compete with Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut, which had entered in the mid-1990s.
China
In 2018, Papa John's sold ownership of its 34 corporate-owned locations in Beijing, shutting down their operations in China.
Pakistan
Papa John's opened its first store in Lahore, Pakistan in early 2019.
Sponsorships
On March 30, 2006,
Six Flags
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It was formed on July 2, 2024, following a merger between longtime rivals Cedar Fair and the former Six Flags ...
announced that its parks' pizza would exclusively be from Papa John's. In turn, Six Flags received an annual sponsorship and promotional opportunities from Papa John's. Papa John's is also the official pizza supplier of the
Olympic Speedskating Oval in
Calgary
Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
,
Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
, Canada.
In November 2006, Papa John's signed with
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
Regional Television to become the title sponsor of the annual
PapaJohns.com Bowl, a college post-season football
bowl game
In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...
in
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...
, which Papa John's continued to sponsor through 2010.
In 2010, Papa John's signed an agreement to be the Official Pizza Sponsor of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
and
Super Bowls XLV,
XLVI and
XLVII.
In 2011, Papa John's became the official Pizza Sponsor of the NFL in Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
[ In October 2012, ]Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
quarterback Peyton Manning
Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the In ...
became a franchisee in the Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
area for Papa John's, and also purchased 21 franchises in the area. In July 2013, Papa John's announced it had become the Official Pizza Partner of The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
in the UK. The sponsorship ended after the 2017 season when Pizza Hut became the official pizza of the NFL in February 2018.
The company was the former beneficiary of the naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...
to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium, also known as L&N Stadium and formerly known as Cardinal Stadium and Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, is a football stadium located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, on the southern end of the campus of the U ...
used by the University of Louisville's football team, in exchange for Schnatter personally donating $5 million for the rights. Schnatter made a further $10 million donation for the stadium's expansion,[ and extended the naming rights to the year 2040. The Papa John's name was taken off the stadium in July 2018, after Schnatter's resignation from the company.
In 2020, Papa John's became the main sponsor of the ]EFL Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...
, a football competition for lower league and under-23 clubs in England.
Controversies
Papa John's received attention in May 2008 when a Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
franchise distributed T-shirts making fun of Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...
star player LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...
at a playoff
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
game against the Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...
. Photographs of the shirts quickly spread from the Internet to Cleveland television. Increasing awareness of the controversy prompted an apology from the Papa John's national headquarters on May 5. To apologize, Papa John's offered large single-topping pizzas for 23 cents (matching James' jersey number
In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to id ...
) at all locations in Greater Cleveland
The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 census results, the six-county Cleveland, OH ...
and throughout northern Ohio. The chain sold over 172,000 pizzas at 23 cents a piece, with customers waiting in lines outside of some stores for as long as three hours.
Papa John's also received media attention on January 6, 2012, when an employee typed the phrase "lady chinky eyes" on a receipt issued to an Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants).
Although this term had historically been used fo ...
customer at a restaurant in New York City. The employee was fired and the company issued a formal apology. A manager at the restaurant where the incident occurred told the ''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative
daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' that the cashier, a teenager, did not intend to offend saying, "It's a busy place, and it was a way to identify her and her order. You know, we do stuff like that sometimes. We'll write 'the lady with the blue eyes' or 'the guy in the green shirt.' I think the lady put it out there just to get some attention, some people like that type of attention."
Schnatter's claim that a reverse in NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
viewer ratings (supposedly because of the NFL kneeling controversy) had directly led to decreased same-store sales across Papa John's franchises was extensively reported in November 2017. It was estimated that Schnatter's personal holdings in the chain had lost millions of dollars in value. Papa John's disavowed statements by white supremacist
White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...
groups expressing support for the brand in the wake of Schnatter's comments.
A media report surfaced on July 11, 2018, claiming that Schnatter had used a racial epithet in a conference call the previous May, along with graphic descriptions of violence against racial minorities. ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' magazine reported that a media agency working with Papa John's severed its relationship with the company following the report. Steve Ritchie, who had replaced Schnatter as CEO, responded with a memo stating that "racism has no place at Papa John's," and a company spokesman wrote in an email that Papa John's "condemns racism". The same day, Schnatter admitted to using the racial epithet during the conference call and resigned as chairman of the company's board of directors. On July 13, 2018, top executives of the company decided to remove Schnatter's image from marketing materials.
Litigation
In 1997, Pizza Hut filed a lawsuit against Papa John's based on a series of advertisements that compared the ingredients of Papa John's and its competitors. Pizza Hut successfully argued that Papa John's slogan did not constitute statements of literal fact – that "fresher ingredients" do not necessarily account for a "better" pizza. This ruling was overturned in 2000 when Papa John's appealed the decision. Although the jury's decision on the misleading advertising was upheld, the appeals court determined that Pizza Hut failed to prove, under the requirements of the Lanham Act
The Lanham (Trademark) Act (, codified at et seq. () is the primary federal statute governing trademark law in the United States.
The Lanham Act establishes a national system of trademark registration and grants owners of federally registe ...
, that the misleading advertising and puffery
Puffery is undue or exaggerated praise. Puffery serves to "puff up" what is being described. In law, puffery is usually invoked as a defense argument: it identifies general praising speech, typically produced by a seller, which is not expected ...
had a material effect on consumers' purchasing decisions.
In 2012, the company was the subject of a class-action lawsuit
A class action is a form of lawsuit.
Class Action may also refer to:
* ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
* Class Action (band), a garage house band
* "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...
for allegedly sending over 500,000 unwanted text messages to customers. The suit sought over $250 million in damages, though the company settled to pay $16.5 million, awarding claimants up to $50 in damages, and a free, large, one-topping pizza.
In August 2015, Papa John's agreed to pay $12.3 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in which the company was accused of undercompensating 19,000 delivery drivers in the states of Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
, Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
, Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
and North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
. The complaint stated that the flat reimbursement amount per delivery for drivers failed to equal minimum wage.
In July 2016, Panera Bread
Panera Bread is an American multinational chain of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Fenton, Missouri. The chain operates as Saint Louis ...
filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Eastern District Court in Missouri accusing Papa John's of stealing digital trade secrets and proprietary data management strategies by hiring Michael Nettles, a former Panera executive who was in charge of the chain's corporate digital technologies deployment. In August, a Federal judge issued a restraining order, preventing Nettles from reporting to work at Papa John's while the case was active. Later that year, Panera told the Federal court that it had agreed to drop the lawsuit in December 2016. Details that led to the lawsuit being dropped were not made public.
Animal welfare
In 2013, Papa John's announced plans to eliminate the use of gestation crate
A gestation crate, also known as a sow stall, is a metal enclosure in which a farmed sow used for breeding may be kept during pregnancy.Wilson G. Pond, Fuller W. Bazer, Bernard E. Rollin (eds.), ''Animal Welfare in Animal Agriculture'', CRC Pre ...
s in its pork supply chain by 2022. In 2024, the animal protection organization Animal Equality criticized the company for continuing to source pork from producers using gestation crates.
In 2016, the company committed to sourcing only cage-free eggs by 2030. In 2025, it announced a temporary pause on this commitment, citing egg shortages.
In 2020, Papa John's signed the Better Chicken Commitment, a pledge to improve broiler chicken
Breed broiler is any chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') that is bred and raised specifically for meat production. Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight between four and six weeks of age, although slower growing breeds reach slau ...
welfare standards. In 2022, it was criticized by World Animal Protection for not publishing progress updates and for allegedly weakening its prior animal welfare standards.
See also
* Cardinal Stadium
L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium, also known as L&N Stadium and formerly known as Cardinal Stadium and Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, is a football stadium located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, on the southern end of the campus of the U ...
– a football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
stadium on the campus of the University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...
formerly bearing the company's name via a naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...
agreement
* List of pizza chains
This list of pizza chains includes notable pizzerias and pizza chains. Pizza is a dish of Neapolitan origin and cuisine, made with an oven-baked, flat, generally round bread that is often covered with tomatoes or a tomato-based sauce and mozzarel ...
* List of pizza chains of the United States
This is a list of pizza chains of the United States. This list is limited to pizza chain restaurants that are based, headquartered or originated in the United States.
The distinction between national chains and primarily regional chains is only ...
* List of pizza franchises
* List of pizza varieties by country
* List of major employers in Louisville, Kentucky
* List of the largest fast food restaurant chains
References
External links
*
{{Food chains in South Korea
1984 establishments in Indiana
American companies established in 1984
Companies based in Louisville, Kentucky
Companies based in Atlanta
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Fast-food chains of the United States
Pizza chains of Canada
Pizza chains of the United Kingdom
Pizza chains of the United States
Pizza franchises
Restaurants established in 1984
1993 initial public offerings
Jeffersontown, Kentucky