September 17th, 2008, marked the opening of the first Papa John’s pizza franchise in Ontario. Located in Belleville, this is the company’s inaugural attempt at breaking into the lucrative pizza trade in the country’s most populous province.
September 17th, 2008, marked the opening of the first Papa John’s pizza franchise in Ontario. Located in Belleville, this is the company’s inaugural attempt at breaking into the lucrative pizza trade in the country’s most populous province.
Founded in the U.S. by “Papa” John Scnatter, the company is set to celebrate a quarter century in the pizza business in 2010, and I currently estimated to be worth more than $1.7 billion (U,S,).
From the company’s website: “ As a high school student working at a local pizza pub in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Papa John’s founder John Schnatter realized that there was something missing from the national pizza chains: a superior-quality traditional pizza delivered to a customer’s door. In 1984, John knocked out a broom closet in the back of his father’s tavern, sold his prized 1972 Z28 Camaro, purchased $1600 worth of used equipment and began selling his pizza to the tavern’s customers. The pizzas were such a success that John was able to expand his business by moving into adjoining space, leading to the opening of the first Papa John’s in 1985.
The best pizzas are made using fresh, high quality ingredients. To ensure that every Papa John’s can offer the same quality products to it’s customers, no matter whether they be in Belleville, or Boston, the food distribution arm of Papa John’s has been forging partnerships in Canada to provide Canadian restaurants with the same quality product as their American counterparts.
This means tomato sauce can only be made from vine-ripened tomatos; dough is made fresh and left to rise naturally before it is to be used and vegetables are brought in daily from local suppliers and cut that day to ensure freshness.
Another cornerstone in the Papa John’s philosophy is customer satisfaction, “Papa” is actually an acronym for “people are priority always”. To that end, all franchisees work closely with the corporation to maintain a consistent level of satisfaction.
The team responsible for bringing Papa John’s to eastern Ontario are; Dave Stewart, Patti McDougall and Ron Neal. All three owners reside in the local Belleville area and have extensive knowledge in restaurant management. The partners established PDR Associates in January 2008, and are committed to opening or developing a further 12 to 15 stores. For the immediate future the focus will be on eastern Ontario with hope of expanding into western markets.
So what can Canadian customers expect on the menu at Papa John’s? Highlights include a spinach, chicken Alfredo sauce pizza and a chicken, bacon, ranch pizza that replaces tomato sauce with ranch dressing. Rounding out the menu choices are chicken wings, potato wedges, salads and breadsticks.
While it may seem obvious that fresh ingredients and quality pizza are key to success in the pizza trade, too often larger companies lose sight of this simple philosophy and produce bland products using processed cheese and meats straight out of the vacuum packs. But with a clear vision of using only quality ingredients, a strong focus on customer satisfaction, and an aggressive expansion plan that has Canada earmarked for 57 new stores in the next five to ten years, Papa John’s looks poised to become a major player not just in the crowded Ontario market, but nationally as well.
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