By Ben Coley
After years of development and testing, Papa Johns is rolling out a redesigned Pan Pizza that company leaders describe as one of the most significant product launches in recent memory. The product hit menus nationwide Thursday.
Pan Pizza is Papa Johns’ first major innovation of 2026, and it’s a category the brand approached cautiously. The chain last launched pan pizza in 2016, and it cut the menu in 2019. CMO Jenna Bromberg said the team spent years refining the recipe rather than rushing it back onto the menu. The company tested multiple versions with consumers, only to pull back when feedback suggested the pizza wasn’t distinctive enough.
“It’s pretty easy to make a good pizza,” Bromberg said. “It’s really hard to make a great pizza. Good was not good enough for us.”
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Papa Johns landed on a Pan Pizza built around texture and flavor. VP of culinary Mark Gabrovic said consumer research consistently pointed to nostalgia for what pan pizza used to be, paired with disappointment in what was currently available in the market.
The culinary team broke the pizza into individual components and rebuilt each piece. Texture became the organizing principle, starting with the bottom crust. Gabrovic said the pizza uses garlic sauce brushed onto the pan, paired with a Parmesan and Romano cheese blend to create a crisp, savory base.
“If you could think of your first bite being this buttery, savory, but yet crisp element on your palate, it really is awesome,” he said.
Along the edge, the pizza uses a different blend of cheeses, including provolone, fontina, asiago and mozzarella, designed to melt outward and form what Gabrovic called an “amazing cheese crown.” Inside, the center crumb was engineered to stay light and airy despite the indulgent toppings.
“We built a tremendous amount of decadence and indulgence into this,” Gabrovic said. “But we didn’t want it to be a heavy experience.”
The product also had to work operationally. Bromberg said the team spent months adjusting oven temperatures and bake times across the system to ensure consistency.
The new Pan Pizza will be marketed to consumers via a campaign—in partnership with ad agency Leo Burnett Worldwide—across TV, digital, social, PR and in-store. It will be supported by new packaging and premium photography.
More innovation is on the way to follow up Pan Pizza. SVP of brand marketing Shivram Vaideeswaran said a protein pizza is in test, as well as oven-toasted sandwiches made on ciabatta bread.
Bromberg framed the rollout as part of a larger reset that began after CEO Todd Penegor joined Papa Johns in 2024. Since then, she said, the company has been focused on becoming “the best pizza makers in the business.”
The message is straightforward amid broader conversations about pizza’s place in American culture.
“We’ve seen a lot of the conversations in the news about America falling out of love with pizza,” she said. “And our answer to that is, try our Pan Pizza. Try it.”
Ben Coley is editor of QSR magazine, sister publication to PMQ Pizza. This story was originally published on the QSR magazine website.
