One Thing No One's Resolving to Give up This Year: Pizza and Football!Football playoffs, busiest month of the year prompts
Papa John's known for its "Better Ingredients" to highlight group orders, online ordering options
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2009--Like baseball is to hot dogs, pizza is forever linked to football. It's
the "unofficial" official food of football fans everywhere. Especially
this time of year.
Papa John's, the world's third-largest pizza company, estimates it will
sell more than 3 million pizzas (24 million slices!) during the
remaining pro football playoff games. That includes more than 750,000
pizzas during "The Big Game" on February 1.
That's a lot of pizza - enough to cover more than 52 football fields.
And since last year's Big Game in Phoenix, Papa John's has used more
than one billion tomatoes to make its fresh pizza sauce, enough to go
back and forth between Phoenix and this year's host city, Tampa, 36
times!
"Saturdays and Sundays spent watching football are cherished blocks of
time for pizza lovers," says John Schnatter, Founder and CEO, Papa
John's International. "As we get closer to the end of the season, what's
on the menu becomes even more important. Football fans aren't interested
in queso sauce or fumbling around with a fruit salad. They want pizza.
And for 25 years, Papa John's pizza's better ingredients have been a
part of football parties across the country."
According to the National Restaurant Association, 58 percent of all
takeout and delivery restaurant orders for Super Bowl gatherings will
include pizza. In addition, the Yellow Pages Association reports that
the term "pizza" was searched more than 60 million times in January last
year, its highest total of the year. The term is searched more than a
half billion times every year.
Just in time for its busiest day of the year, Papa John's offers up its
catering and "group suggestions" menu. Whether it's a party of four or
40, the Papa John's catering menu
features order recommendations to satisfy the appetite of any group.
Entertaining 10? Two pizzas, 30 wings and two 2-liters of Coke ought to
do it. Serving 16? Four large pizzas with three toppings each will hit
the spot.
Papa John's offers the following tips for party planners this football
season:
-- One large pizza feeds 3-4 adults
-- The most popular combination of toppings is pepperoni, sausage and
mushrooms
-- Provide a variety of pizzas with different toppings. For large groups,
always include a cheese or pepperoni pizza as well as a few specialty
pizzas
-- Complement any order with an array of side items - wings, breadsticks,
even dessert "sweet treats"
-- Don't forget icy, cold beverages from Coca-Cola
Plus, Papa John's continues to lead the industry in convenient ordering
options. The pizza company was the first to introduce ordering online in
2001, which now accounts for nearly one-quarter of its business. The
company's unique advance online ordering option at www.papajohns.com
enables consumers to place orders and specify the time of delivery or
pick-up (up to three weeks in advance).
In 2007, Papa John's managed another first - ordering by SMS/text
message. Simply indicate your favorite order online and text that
"favorite" number to "4PAPA" (47272) and your pizza will be on its way.
The company's mobile Web ordering site is a convenient avenue for the
person on the go and its Facebook
page is an ideal spot to check out the latest offers and promotions from
Papa John's to its Facebook "fans."
Other fun facts about pizza:
-- 93% of Americans eat a slice of pizza at least once a month
-- The average American consumes 46 slices or 23 pounds of pizza per year.
Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day, or about 350
slices per second
-- 86% of Americans plan to eat during the Super Bowl, and more than half
of them (52%) said they plan to eat pizza (pizzatoday.com)
-- 62% of Americans prefer meat toppings on their pizza, while 38% prefer
vegetarian toppings
-- The most food is consumed during halftime - six out of seven viewers
said they planned to eat pizza during halftime
-- Papa John's expects to have three times as many
employees working during
the Big Game than during a regular day
-- Most delivery drivers make $75 to $100 more in tips on the Sunday of The
Big Game than they would on a regular night
To visit your nearest Papa John's restaurant or set up an interview
with a Papa John's operator or representative, please contact Tish
Muldoon at 502.261.4987.
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's International, Inc.
(NASDAQ: PZZA) is the world's third largest pizza company. For nine
years running, consumers have rated Papa John's No. 1 in customer
satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the highly regarded
American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Papa John's also ranks
first among pizza companies in the 2008 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty
Engagement Index, was honored by Restaurants & Institutions Magazine
(R&I) with the 2008 Silver Award for Consumers' Choice in Chains in the
pizza segment, and was named 2007 Pizza Today Chain of the Year. For
more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa
John's at www.papajohns.com.
CONTACT:
Papa John's International, Inc.Tish Muldoon, Director, Community & Public Relations
502-261-4987
Source:
Papa John's International, Inc.