ADDING MULTIMEDIA Papa John's Celebrates 3000th Restaurant Opening by Giving Away Its Secret Ingredient in New York City!; Pizza Chain also to Ring the NASDAQ Opening Bell July 13 as Part of Milestone Celebration
LOUISVILLE, Ky., Jul 13, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Known for its "Better Ingredients, Better Pizza," Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) is celebrating the upcoming opening of its 3000th restaurant by giving away one of its ... shhhh ... secret ingredients - literally! On Wednesday, July 13 beginning at 11:30 a.m., customers who visit Papa John's "Store 3000," located on the corner of 89th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan, will receive a fresh, juicy, vine-ripened red tomato, one of the superior-quality "secret ingredients" that goes into making Papa John's pizza so delicious. Papa John's prides itself in taking care (and incurring extra cost) to make sure that the tomatoes used in its sauce go from their California-grown vine to the can in an average of six hours, capturing that just-picked tomato flavor.
Papa John's is hosting several activities in New York City July 13 to celebrate this milestone. President/CEO Nigel Travis and Founder/Chairman John Schnatter will start the day by ringing the NASDAQ opening bell at 9:30 a.m., while morning commuters in Times Square are treated to a slice of mouthwatering Papa John's pizza (8,000+ slices will be distributed)! At 11:30 a.m. the festivities move uptown to 89th Street and Amsterdam, where Travis and Schnatter will cut a tomato vine to commemorate the opening of Papa John's 3,000th restaurant this quarter.
At the celebration, Papa John's will donate $20,000 and thousands of tomatoes (and other fresh produce) to City Harvest, the world's oldest food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding New York City's hungry men, women and children. Additional activities at the event, which will run through 1:30 p.m., will include pizza sampling, family-friendly games and lots of giveaways sponsored by Coca-Cola, including four special edition Coke mountain bikes. To expand the celebration throughout the New York metro area, on July 13 between the hours of 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Papa John's will give away an additional 3,000+ slices of freshly made, steaming hot pizza at its 58 area locations (carry-out only, limit one slice per customer).
"As Papa John's celebrates its milepost 3000th restaurant in New York City, as the 'Better Ingredients, Better Pizza' company we thought it appropriate to support the local community by donating food for the hungry," said Papa John's President and Chief Executive Officer, Nigel Travis, "We believe that teaming up with City Harvest in its mission to help alleviate hunger in New York City is a great way to do this."
"We are very grateful to Papa John's for this generous donation. Working with socially conscious companies like Papa John's makes it easier for City Harvest to continue to work toward our goal of ending hunger in communities throughout New York City," says Jilly Stephens, Vice President of Program Services for City Harvest.
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's is the world's third largest pizza company. For six years running, consumers have rated Papa John's #1 in customer satisfaction among all national QSR chains in the highly regarded American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). For more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa John's at www.papajohns.com. MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=4928138
SOURCE: Papa John's International, Inc.
Papa John's International, Inc., Louisville
Chris Sternberg, 502-261-4934
www.papajohns.com