Papa John's expands its vegan food range

Papa John’s International, Inc. has announced the appointment of Kevin Vasconi as its new Chief Digital and Technology Officer, effective immediately. Vasconi, an experienced leader in enterprise technology, joins the company after serving as Chief Information Officer at The Wendy’s Company, where he played a key role in transforming their digital operations and tripling its e-commerce business over three years.

In his new role, Vasconi will oversee the development and execution of Papa John’s digital and technology strategies, spanning customer-facing platforms, restaurant technology, and corporate systems. His responsibilities include enterprise architecture, data analytics, information security, and driving scalable, cost-effective technology solutions for the global franchise network. Collaborating closely with marketing and operations teams, he will focus on enhancing customer and employee experiences through technological innovation.

“Kevin and I worked together at The Wendy’s Company, where I saw first-hand his ability to lead technology innovation that delivered significant impact for customers, team members, and franchisees,” said Todd Penegor, President and CEO of Papa John’s. “His leadership in the QSR industry has been widely recognized, and I look forward to his contributions as we continue to grow in the digital space.”

Prior to joining The Wendy’s Company, Vasconi held senior roles at Domino’s, including EVP and CIO, where he led the development and expansion of its ecommerce operations both domestically and internationally. His career in technology spans over 35 years, with notable positions at Ford Motor Company, Covisint LLC, Polk Global Automotive, and Stanley Black and Decker.

“I’m excited to join the team at Papa John’s and lead the company’s technology strategy,” said Vasconi. “With the increasing competition in the QSR digital space, I see significant opportunities ahead. I’m eager to work with the executive and technology teams to drive growth for the company.”

Vasconi will report to Penegor and serve on the Executive Leadership Team. In related leadership updates, Ravi Thanawala, Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed CFO and EVP, International, while Joe Sieve will now serve as Chief Restaurant and Global Development Officer, overseeing global expansion and restaurant operations.

Papa John’s has added vegan pizzas to the menu at its over 70 locations across Spain. With this, the US-based pizza chain becomes the first fast-food chain to offer vegan pizza in Spain.

These new additions have been developed in collaboration with the vegan brand Beyond Meat and United Kingdom-based campaign Veganuary.

Papa John’s new menu will feature two pizzas, including Papa John’s Green, made with tomato sauce, onions, black olives, tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, and vegan cheese, and Papa John’s Green PLUS, made with tomato sauce, tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, vegan cheese, and topped with plant-based Beyond Burger meat. 

Javier Aranguíz, General Manager of Papa John’s Spain, said, “With this launch, we are continuing our commitment to quality ingredients and we are excited to partner up with Beyond Meat, a market leader in plant-based meats, to respond to new consumer trends like the growing demand for plant-based options. Papa John’s Green offers our customers two new pizzas for all those who want to reduce their consumption of animal protein without giving up the best pizza.”

Why Papa John’s introduced vegan pizzas in Spain?

As per the research conducted by Papa John’s, 86.2% of Spaniards prefer meatless pizza toppings, with 65% willing to reduce their meat consumption citing various reasons such as health, animal welfare, and environmental issues.

Chuck Muth, Chief Growth Officer of Beyond Meat, stated, “We are excited to introduce consumers to our agreement with Papa John’s that offers a pizza with the usual taste and quality, and with the added nutritional and environmental benefits, of plant-based meat. Papa John’s is a global brand and we look forward to continuing to work with them to offer new options to their customers.” 

Growing Pizza Market

The Italian food format stood third in preference after Indian and Chinese five to six years ago. However, recent studies show that pizza is the biggest and the most profitable segment in the Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) format.

The Indian pizza market is dominated by Jubilant Food Works and Yum Brands, who own the widely recognisable brands Domino’s and Pizza Hut, respectively. However, other brands such as Sbarro, Papa John’s and Marco’s Pizza are also competing to spread their base in India. Thus, with the increase in the number of players, the market is ripe for investors.

Serving pizza via franchise route

Global and domestic pizza brands in India are expanding their stores through the franchise route throwing many opportunities for entrepreneurs in the country. Be it Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s,  Sbarro, Neopolitan Pizza or any other pizza brand, the majority of them are spreading their footprints via a franchise model in India. Domino’s Pizza has Jubilant FoodWorks Limited as it Master Franchisee.