/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Hello,

I know that for the past 6 weeks people have been talking about the name on our pizza boxes— and what that name stands for. And I’ve been quiet about it for too long.

Some of you may have seen my statement from Friday, but there’s more I want to say. I shared it on my twitter feed and want to say it again here.

I’ve been listening along with my team members. I’ve heard their hurt, disappointment and anger, and that of our franchisees, our customers—and those who used to be.

And now we’re all looking inwards, reclaiming the responsibilities Papa John’s has to our partners, customers and communities. And in thinking about what we want the Papa John’s name to stand for moving forward, we’re now going where we should have been all along.

United in the belief that we—company, community and country—are better together. Joining the voices for fairness, social justice, equity, representation, and inclusion. Standing against hateful words, deeds and attitudes.

I shared the first steps towards achieving this vision in our Values statement, but know that at an organizational level, we are committed to adding more diversity to Papa John’s leadership team and supplier base. We are forming a foundation that will focus on supporting organizations that are working to eradicate the biases that keep us apart, while also supporting and celebrating those groups that bring us together. And we’ll be creating a franchise expansion and development program for women and minorities.

This past week was the hardest week in my 22 years with Papa John's. I know the words of John Schnatter were offensive, and nothing pains me more than knowing they hurt you. To be clear, those words in no way represent my views or the values of our company. As the leader of Papa John's, I'm sorry.

Racism and insensitive language - no matter the context - will not be tolerated at any level of our company. Period.

Papa John's is not an individual. Papa John's is a pizza company with 120,000 corporate and franchise team members around the world. These are the people in your communities from all walks of life who work hard to provide you with better service and better pizza. These are your local owners and operators who do so much in your community.

Still, you deserve actions, not just words, so here's what we're going to do about it:

We're in the process of bringing in outside experts to help audit our company's culture and diversity and inclusion practices. This will allow us to identify our strengths and weaknesses. We will then set clear goals to do better.
Our senior management team will be on the road, listening to our employees and franchisees and getting their feedback on a path to move forward.
We'll be transparent with you along the way. We want you to hold us accountable.
I will personally be leading this effort because there is nothing more important for Papa John's right now. We want to regain your trust, and we will work hard to earn it. I know this will take time.

The entire team at Papa John's wants to thank you for your loyalty. We are only in business because of you. And it's our sincere wish that we'll continue to have the honor of serving you.

Sincerely,

Steve Ritchie
CEO, Papa John's