Has Papa John's Pizza lost their way?

I had a conversation with a co-worker yesterday who had done some research into the original mission of Papa John's Pizza. Being a long-time employee of Papa John's, we sometimes forget that the original mission was to keep it simple - a limited menu and limited number of toppings that help create a better pizza. It is my co-worker's belief that Papa John's has completely destroyed that mission.

For a better understanding of what Papa John's was, let's look at the menu when I first started in June 1998...

• Pizzas - sizes small, large, extra large and thin crust...
• Toppings - fewer than today
• Breadsticks
• Cheesesticks, and
• 20 ounce and 2 liter coke, diet coke, and sprite.

That's it.

Numerous product changes have occured in the last 10 years. Some of these have met with the approval of customers such as the chicken products (wings/strips) and garlic parmesan breadsticks. Numerous specialty pizzas have come and gone - does anyone remember the meatball pizza? Products have come through that really didn't live up to the potential. Anything dessert related had potential but they were too small to have mass market appeal. A few experiments even completely bombed. Papa John's salads were so poorly executed that they were just that - executed.

If your local Papa John's store is suffering through flat sales right now, then the more products you offer fragment your customer base and create lower sales for all the items on your menu.

On the other hand, were all the changes necessary in the last 11 years I've been around? Yes! The only reason is this: everyone else was upgrading by adding new products and services. Essentially, in business, if you don't change and adapt to current economic conditions then you die!!!!!

Back to my co-worker's original premise - that Papa John's Pizza has lost their way by destroying their original mission. That Papa John's had to move away from a simple menu is a sign that the company has been looking for ways to keep themselves competitive, especially in these challenging economic times.

In an extremely competitive industry such as pizza, this is the approach that has to be taken.