Papa Johns axes 10 SKUs, bets on pan pizza and ciabatta to reverse 6.4% sales slide

CEO Todd Penegor is pruning 'rhythm breaker' items like Papadias and Papa Bites while rolling out pan pizza, ciabatta sandwiches, cheesy garlic bread and a $6.99 Papa Pairings value tier. The reset targets frequency recovery into 2026 after Q1 same-store sales fell 6.4%.

— Filed Fri, 15 May, 2026, 07:21 IST · Source Restaurant Business · Updated

Papa Johns CEO Todd Penegor is cutting 'rhythm breaker' SKUs like Papadias and Papa Bites, launching pan pizza, ciabatta sandwiches, and cheesy garlic bread to drive frequency after Q1 same-store sales fell 6.4%.

Why this matters

Follows Papa Johns' India expansion onto Swiggy and Zomato, showing a dual playbook: prune and reformat the US core menu while chasing growth via delivery aggregators abroad.

Retail-brand activity steady at 171 signals in the last 90 days.