Pizza Perfectionist Papa Johns Gains Proactive Supply Chain Management

Papa Johns constantly strives to tempt customers with innovative products and recipes. The company insists on rigorously high standards of quality and food safety, as well as complying to regulations including GFSI.

To meet the challenge of maintaining its high standards, Papa Johns needs to know their suppliers conform consistently to the same high level. They decided to invest in the technology and resources to make this a reality and looked to implement a best-in-class supplier and product specification management system.

As Philip Quinn, Senior Director of Quality Assurance, Papa Johns International — which includes all the company’s operations outside North America — explains, “We’ve set our suppliers very high standards of quality and food safety. We need them to demonstrate their compliance quickly and efficiently. We also needed a system to handle food product specifications, and to efficiently capture all the ingredients used by our manufacturers globally. To keep our customers safe, we needed to create a reliable database of all allergens to create a trusted allergen list for our menus anywhere in the world.”

Papa Johns have seen almost immediate benefits from the system — a reduction in administration overhead, and improved supply chain communication. All the information is gathered on a single system to which suppliers have access and can upload their own documents. “If we have a new supplier requirement, or a regulation changes, the system can push out requests and automatic reminders to our suppliers for updated documentation,” says Quinn.

Dashboard-driven data analysis and reporting gives clarity on trends in supplier non-compliances, enabling Papa Johns to allocate resources to them. “It’s helped our quality assurance to be more efficient and more effective,” says Quinn. “It’s made my job easier.”

Quinn describes the company’s relationship with NSF as “genuinely collaborative”, involving regular reviews and management meetings. “They bring technical expertise, wide experience and the ability to listen. And we get value from their focus on the food industry — that’s a differentiator for us,” he adds.

Ultimately, NSF’s solution “has brought us up to date in an increasingly data-driven world,” says Quinn. “It is boosting our quality performance and underscores our commitment to food safety. It’s strengthening our supplier management and making us more resilient,” he concludes.