Papa John’s Buffalo Chicken Pizza Earns the 2013 Nation’s Restaurant News MenuMasters Award for Best Limited-Time Offer

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Adding to its list of recent prestigious industry awards, Papa John’s International (NASDAQ: PZZA) this week was honored by Nation’s Restaurant News with its 2013 MenuMasters Award in the category of Best Limited-Time Offer for its Buffalo Chicken Pizza.

“When selecting MenuMasters awardees, we don’t only take into consideration culinary ingenuity, but also the likely impact of the candidates on foodservice as a whole”

“We are honored to have this very popular pizza recognized by Nation’s Restaurant News,” said John Schnatter, Papa John’s Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Our franchisees, R&D and marketing teams, along with many other departments worked collaboratively to develop, market and launch our Buffalo Chicken Pizza, so this truly is a systemwide achievement. ‘Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.’ is what we strive for every day. It’s both thrilling and humbling when our efforts are recognized by consumers and throughout the industry.”

Papa John’s rolled-out its Buffalo Chicken Pizza as an LTO at more than 3,000 restaurants in the U.S. last April. It proved so popular with consumers that the company introduced it again in September to kick off the NFL season. Since then, Papa John’s Buffalo Chicken Pizza has launched in several international markets, including the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

“When selecting MenuMasters awardees, we don’t only take into consideration culinary ingenuity, but also the likely impact of the candidates on foodservice as a whole,” Nation’s Restaurant News Senior Food Editor, Bret Thorn said in a press release announcing the award winners. “This year’s winners are a great mix of terrific new proteins, creative flavor combinations and adjustments to menus that are likely to pave the way for further innovation.”

The MenuMasters Award is the third prominent award Papa John’s has earned for its 2012 performance. In March 2012, Papa John’s was named Brand of the Year in the Pizza Chain Category of the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend Study, and in June 2012 the brand was named tops in customer satisfaction among limited-service restaurants in the 2012 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). It was the 11^th time in the past 13 years Papa John’s had achieved that honor.

Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) is the world's third largest pizza company. For 11 of the past 13 years, consumers have rated Papa John's No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Papa John's also earned the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Pizza Brand of the Year. Papa John’s is the Official Pizza Sponsor of the National Football League and Super Bowl XLVII. For more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa John's at www.papajohns.com.