Papa John's CEO Hypes Up Stuffed Crust Pizza: 'Biggest Initiative' Ever

Papa John's Int'l, Inc. PZZA CEO hyped up the company's new "Epic Stuffed Crust" pizza during an upcoming Restaurant Business podcast.

What Happened: Papa John's is testing a new stuffed crust pie that is exclusive to Papa Rewards loyalty members. Papa John's CEO Rob Lynch told Restaurant Business he expects the new pie to stand out in an eventual post-COVID reality where people are ordering pizza delivery less and going back to restaurants.

"All the research we've done would tell you the heaviest customers of pizza, the biggest customers of pizza, loved stuffed crust," he said on the podcast.

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Why It's Important: A dive into stuffed crust could prove to be one of Papa John's "biggest initiatives" in its history -- if not "the biggest."

Unlike rival stuffed crust pizzas, Papa John's uses fresh dough and the cheese is hand-stuffed under the crust using a special tool it designed specifically to avoid cheese leaking out.

"It's a huge departure from normal operating procedures," Lynch said. "It took a long time working with operators and franchisees to find a way to be able to execute that without significantly impacting our time of operations and our time to deliver."

What's Next: Papa John's launched multiple new products in recent months, including a Garlic Parmesan crust, a line of sandwiches, a pizza fit for Shaq, and brought back a cheeseburger pizza with pickles.

But stuffed crust could be the start of a new platform for future development, according to the publication.