Papa John’s is an American pizza restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. This company was founded by John Schnatter in 1984. It competed with the market’s leading restaurants and served delicious pizzas.
Now, this company has established itself as the third-largest pizza delivery restaurant chain in the world.
This company has expanded its operations in 49 countries and opened restaurants at more than 5,500 locations. Schnatter had started this company in his broom closet and sold his Camaro to finance the business. It succeeded and became a popular brand across the globe.
What is the Reason Behind Papa John’s Success Across the World?
Many restaurant chains operate in the USA, but very few of them grow as much as Papa John’s has grown. It became one of the leading pizza delivery restaurant chains in the world because it didn’t compromise product quality.
This restaurant tries its best to deliver the finest quality pizzas. All the restaurants in the chain follow the same approach to please new clients and retain the existing ones.
This brand follows a diversified business model. It has spanned all 50 states in the USA. Besides, it is operating many restaurants in 49 international locations.
It rewards profit-making company-owned units. Employees try their best to satisfy customers with their product and service quality.
Who are Papa John’s Competitors?
This company is competing with the world’s best pizza delivery restaurant chains. It has successfully maintained its position among the top pizza restaurants over the years.
Physical retail outlets are easily accessible and therefore most clients don’t switch to other franchises.
Papa John’s was the first pizza restaurant to accept online orders. Today, it promises fast delivery and scheduled deliveries to the client’s location.
This company uses cutting-edge technologies to beat the competition and gain the top position.
Top 10 Papa John’s Competitors
1. Domino’s Pizza
Operating 18,848 pizza delivery restaurants across 5,701, Domino’s Pizza is the king of the pizza delivery business. It was founded in 1960 in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
It was one of the first few companies to popularize the food home delivery model. Today, Domino’s Pizza is known for offering a variety of mouth-watering pizzas at pocket-friendly prices.
Domino’s pizzas were not popular for their taste. However, the company introduced new flavors, toppings, and other items on the menu. It improved the taste and quality of its products to remain competitive.
The home delivery model worked in the favor of this company and it started winning the trust of customers. It has delivered over 1 million pizzas per day and recently switched to e-bikes to reduce carbon footprints.
Being the leading quick-service restaurant chain in the world, Domino’s brand value is $12 billion. It has grossed $4.36 billion in 2021 and it is trying to increase its global revenue significantly in 2022.
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire world, Domino’s has gained remarkable financial success.
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2- Pizza Hut
Frank and Dan Carney founded this company in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas. It grew rapidly and became one of the world’s most prominent restaurant chains.
It has established more than 16,900 pizza delivery restaurants across 150 countries. Customers love this company’s pan pizza, breadsticks, pasta, desserts, and other cuisines served in restaurants.
Pizza Hut manages family-style restaurants, storefront delivery restaurants, online delivery restaurants, and hybrid restaurants. It takes online orders and orders on call to deliver ordered meals on time.
This company became popular among gourmet clients because it fulfilled the promise of quick delivery. It has also offered products for free in case of late delivery. That’s how it won the trust of millions of customers and maintained their loyalty over the years.
This company had made $11.955 billion in 2020 when other franchises were severely affected by the global pandemic. Its annual revenue increased to $12.955 billion by 2021 and it expects to perform much better in 2022.
3. Little Caesars
This American multinational company has become the third-largest pizza chain in the USA in terms of sales. Papa John’s has beaten this company in the global market, but not in the USA. Little Caesars operates and franchises over 4,199 restaurants in the USA. It has also spanned 27 countries.
Mike and Marian Ilitch founded this company in 1959 in Garden City, Michigan. Its first franchise location was established in Warren, Michigan and it was known as “Little Caesar’s Pizza Treat” at that time.
It became popular for serving delicious pizzas at affordable prices. The company used to deliver pizzas in a single long package but later switched to typical pizza boxes.
This company’s estimated annual revenue is $8.5 billion. It had grossed $3.95 Billion in the USA in 2020, which increased to $4.725 billion in 2021.
Little Caesars does not operate as many outlets as Papa John’s does. However, American customers love it more than most other pizza chains.
4. Papa Murphy’s
It is a take-and-bake pizza company offering a variety of delicious pizzas, salads, desserts, and other cuisines. This company was founded in 1995 when two local take-and-bake pizza companies (Papa Aldo’s Pizza and Murphy’s Pizza) merged.
Today, this company is operating over 1,300 outlets in the USA, UAE, and Canada. This American pizza restaurant chain offers online and offline services. Some outlets also have a drive-thru window to serve customers, who are in a hurry.
Papa Murphy’s prepares pizzas at stores, but it does not bake them. Customers buy unbaked pizzas and bake them at home.
Papa Murphy’s is a profitable business organization because it requires less space to deliver delicious foods. Besides, other items such as Salads, soft drinks, desserts, and other foods allure thousands of customers to this pizza restaurant.
This company makes around $800 million annually by selling unbaked pizzas and some other items. That’s pretty remarkable for a company, which has much fewer outlets than the top pizza restaurants.
5. California Pizza Kitchen
This American restaurant chain is best known for its California-style pizzas. Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax had established the first restaurant of this company in 1985 in Beverly Hills, CA.
Initial restaurants generated good profit and CPK expanded rapidly. Today, it serves customers across 250 locations in the USA and 10 other countries.
Original BBQ Chicken Pizza, Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza, and Thai Chicken Pizzas were pretty unique recipes for customers. These nontraditional and innovative pizzas allured customers to CPK restaurants.
Modern California Pizza Kitchen outlets also serve salads, pasta, sandwiches, soups, and delicious desserts. Customers also get a children’s special menu to order delicious and healthy meals for young kids.
Even though this company isn’t the top-grossing pizza chain on this list, it easily makes around $500 million annually.
6. Sbarro
Just like CPC, Sbarro sells unique pizzas. It has mastered the art of baking New York-style pizzas and sells them in Italian-American dishes. Being one of the oldest quick-serve restaurants, Sbarro serves 600 locations across the globe.
It has opened pizzeria outlets in malls, airports, college campuses, and service areas. It is one of a few restaurant chains that have outlets on American naval bases and inside the Pentagon.
Sbarro did not follow a specific restaurant format. It focused on serving fresh and genuine Italian foods. Customers admired the quality, aroma, and taste of Sbarro’s pizzas. Thus, its popularity grew over the years and it reached new locations.
This New York-style pizza chain generates $10-50 million annually and it has grossed over $600 million in sales. It is the most frequently found pizza outlet in malls and that’s where it entertains most customers.
7. Marco’s Pizza
Pasquale “Pat” Giammarco was only nine years old when his family moved to the USA. He worked at his family’s pizzeria and learned how to bake mouth-watering pizzas.
Giammarco established Marco’s Pizza restaurant in 1978 and used family recipes to serve delicious pizzas. Today, this restaurant chain serves several Italian foods, but it’s best known for Giammarco’s pizza sauce.
This company currently operates over 800 pizza outlets in 34 states. Its franchises are also opened in India, the Bahamas, and Puerto Rico. Many restaurant magazines have recognized and credited Marco’s Pizza for its unique recipes.
This restaurant chain also brings unique recipes and deals to remain the center of attraction among Italian pizza lovers.
Marco’s Pizza competes with the best pizza restaurants in the USA while serving thousands of happy customers. It has made almost $600 million in sales and it is all set to establish 1,000 pizza outlets in many new locations.
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8. Chuck E. Cheese
Chuck E. Cheese is the best family entertainment center that serves delicious pizzas and other meals as well. Nolan Bushnell founded this company in 1977. It became a popular destination for family events, such as birthdays, gatherings, and parties.
Chuck E. Cheese restaurants and entertainment centers cover a much larger space than a regular pizza outlet. There are amusement rides, arcade games, stage shows, and a lot more.
Families enjoy all amenities this restaurant chain offers along with delicious foods. It is the best place to enjoy special occasions, festivals, and weekends with family.
Chuck E. Cheese mainly competes with family entertainment centers. However, this company has also allured many clients, who used to visit Papa John’s and competitors.
It offers popular Italian cuisines and competes with local pizzerias located across 741 locations.
9. Round Table Pizza
Established in 1959, Round Table Pizza is running more than 400 restaurants across the USA and 10 other countries. This franchise operates traditional pizzerias and modern pizza clubhouses across the USA.
The pizza clubhouse provides arcade games, sports streaming, and other attractions to keep visitors engaged for hours.
Round Table Pizza serves only high-quality cuisines. It uses only fresh in-store dough and toppings to bake delicious pizzas. A variety of premium ingredients are supplied to each of the 400 outlets to ensure each dish is unique and delicious.
Even though Round Table Pizza doesn’t make as much as top pizza restaurant chains do, it’s one of the top-grossing family entertainment restaurant chains.
10. Cicis
This company is running over 299 franchised Italian American buffet restaurants in the USA. It was known as CiCi’s Pizza when it started franchising in 1987. Its name changed to Cicis in 2015, but most customers still call it CiCi’s Pizza.
CiCis is not among the top pizza restaurant chains because it has experienced a huge loss in 2020. The company’s annual revenue went down by 57%. It reduced to $76 million from $177 million in 2019.
The company got an exciting menu that contains the most delicious Italian foods. Better promotional tactics can help CiCi’s Pizza regain its dominance in urban regions of the USA.
It is not a major threat to other popular pizza chains in the USA. However, this pizza restaurant chain got everything it takes to beat the best companies in the restaurant industry.
