Meals & Beverage
After years of improvement, Papa Johns is relaunching its pan pizza with a refined recipe that includes a garlic-Parmesan crust and a six-cheese mix, supported by a “drop tradition”-inspired advertising marketing campaign and a $11.99 worth level.
Photograph: Papa Johns
January 28, 2026 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
Pan pizza hasn’t been on the Papa Johns menu in years, however it returns tomorrow with a greater recipe, new pans and loads of analysis to get it proper, in line with firm officers who held a press convention Monday.
“We’re Papa Johns and we all know that pizza is the most effective meals on planet earth and we have all the time been about high quality and creating the most effective pizza within the class. We’re right here for the love of pizza, for now and without end and pan pizza is a tremendous step on that journey,” stated Jenna Bromberg, chief advertising officer for Papa Johns.
Making a masterpiece
Pan pizza final launched in 2016, however this time across the model labored on the recipe for years.
The result’s a pan pizza that has a fluffy, thick crust with an ethereal texture. It has Parmesan cheese and Papa Johns Particular Garlic Sauce baked straight into the underside of the pan for a golden, caramelized end and crispy savory crunch.
The pizza options six cheeses: Mozzarella; Provolone, Fontina, Asiago, Parmesan and Romano. It is constructed to carry as much as seven edge-to-edge toppings, and it has a ultimate dusting of Italian seasoning. And there is not any synthetic colours or flavors.
Mark Gabrovic, vice chairman of culinary at Papa Johns, stated intensive testing with customers and staff members proved on the pizza wasn’t simply good — it was a power to be reckoned with.
“The voice of the buyer reigned supreme, however there have been so many different those that have been concerned on this, to not point out our cross-functional companions in provide chain, high quality assurance (and) operations,” Gabrovic stated.
He added texture took middle stage. The pizza is priced at $11.99, marking for an accessible worth level.
“I believe everyone’s skilled the deliciousness of like a Parmesan crust, a Parmesan crisp that you just would possibly placed on a salad, however what this does in our pan, that butter and that Parmesan-Romano, it actually provides you some wonderful texture,” Gabrovic stated. “We then drizzle garlic sauce across the edge, and we go in with a unique cheese on the sting as a result of what our clients have been telling us right here is they need crisp, however in addition they wished some texture.”
Papa Johns has been engaged on its pan pizza since they final took it off the menu some seven or eight years in the past, Bromberg stated. It took a very long time to get it proper, she stated, because it’s tough to develop a pan pizza with taste with out utilizing synthetic colours or flavors.
“There was plenty of work executed to make sure we have been hitting these taste notes and exceeding expectations whereas staying true to what makes a Papa John’s pizza a Papa John’s pizza,” Bromberg added.
She described ovens as crucial piece of apparatus in each considered one of Papa Johns’ eating places, and that the model had to make sure the ovens have been set as much as bake the pan pizza constantly.
“We have six completely different cheeses on right here, which supplies you a very nice taste profile and permits us to have cheese not solely on the highest of the pizza however that lovely cheese crown that you just see round it and that crispy Parmesan crust,” Bromberg stated.
Gabrovic stated the important thing metric his staff used within the kitchen was “would you be proud if your loved ones opened this product at house? And if not, it isn’t prepared but.”
The advertising technique
Shivram Vaideeswaran, VP of selling, stated the advertising plan for the brand new pan pizza is named “Papa’s Pan Drop” and is modeled round drop tradition the place manufacturers launch new streetwear or tech.
“Our purpose is to consider the entire audiences that we wish to attain with this product and interact with them in actually enjoyable methods throughout the entire channels,” Vaideeswaran stated.
The 360-degree marketing campaign contains TV spots, on-line ads, 15-second “characteristic movies” and social media posts.
“The inventive actually displays the premium nature of this product, with stunning meals pictures. We have all-new packaging in our beautiful model inexperienced that is going to be coming to life,” Vaideeswaran added. “We’re going to verify to focus on the craveability of this product, the indulgence, the decadence, in addition to actually leaning in on why that is so differentiated and so distinctive within the class.”
Bromberg stated worth has been on the middle of customers’ choice making.
“It is necessary to recollect worth’s a lot extra than simply worth, proper? It is what they get for what they pay,” she stated.
Mentioned Gabrovic: “There was plenty of love and care and a spotlight put into this product from the company facet and now we get an opportunity to let our wonderful staff members hand-craft it on the shops throughout our nation to ship into the properties of our wonderful visitors and that is actually a enjoyable, a enjoyable course of.”
About Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the location editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has greater than 20 years’ expertise masking meals, individuals and locations.
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings greater than 20 years’ expertise to Networld Media Group. She has spent almost twenty years masking the pizza business, from unbiased pizzerias to multi-unit chains and each dimension enterprise in between. Mandy has been featured on the Meals Community and has received quite a few awards for her protection of the restaurant business. She has an insatiable urge for food for studying, and might inform you the place to seek out the most effective slices within the nation after spending 15 years touring and consuming pizza for a dwelling.
