Papa John’s is an American pizza restaurant franchise and is the fourth largest pizza restaurant chain in the US. However, this restaurant chain was unable to proclaim itself as a restaurant chain in India. Papa John’s had to pull the shutter on the remaining 33 restaurants in July 2017.
Beginning
John Schnater founded Papa John’s in 1984. He decided to let the company go public in 1993 after this venture became a success. Papa John’s had remarkable growth because within a year, it had 500 stores, and by 1997, it had a total of 1500 stores up and running.
Today, Papa John’s owns more than 5166 establishments, inclusive of both restaurants and company-owned stores. Its franchises opened across many countries, including Spain, Russia, United Kingdom, Colombia, Mexico, etc.
Entry
Papa John’s decided to set foot in India in 2006. They were run by Om Pizza and Eats, owned by Atulya Mittal, nephew of the steel baron Lakshmi Mittal. Their purpose was to seize the pizza market in India and pull the attention of consumers of the already proclaimed biggies in India like Dominos and Pizza Hut. Papa John’s started with four outlets in India.
The pizza sector was contributing a significant slice of India’s gross fast food market. Coupled with this, the opportunities for tourism and the presence of a diverse culture opened doorways of possibilities in front of the company.
They were confident about the most required glocalization that needs to be done to suit the Indian culture and taste. They also decided to promote their brands in various methods, including advertisements in all kinds of media. They also wanted to make sure that the pricing of their products matched that of the local people.
The fall
During its time in India, Papa John’s only had 66 stores across 11 cities in India. Domino’s, on the other hand, was expanding like wildfire. It only had 364 stores in 2010, but that number rose to a smashing 1127 stores by 2017. They were able to reach out to more than 265 cities across India.
Domino’s became the first food service to start online and mobile ordering in India successfully. And this crumbled the expansion of Papa John’s because they were unable to keep up with the rapid delivery and advanced technology of Domino’s.
Also, Papa John’s looked for technically solid employees rather than employees who are warm and cordial, which is what most firms looked for. It forgot that staffing plays a significant role in any establishment, which leads to the next problem: customer dissatisfaction.
“Customer is king” is a phrase that never gets old in the corporate world. But, Papa John’s seemed to forget this mantra. Yes, it attempted glocalization, but it did not bring the outcomes that they were looking for. Papa John’s missed out on the fact that the Indian culture did not welcome pork very happily.
Papa John’s was unclear and unsighted about the various challenges that a diverse country like India could bring.
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