Papa Johns makes major menu change to win back customers

Over the past few months, consumers across the country have scaled back their spending on fast food, which has significantly impacted Papa Johns’ sales.

In Papa Johns’  (PZZA) first-quarter earnings report for 2025, it revealed that its U.S. comparable sales declined by 3% year-over-year.

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During an earnings call on May 8, Papa Johns CEO Todd Penegor said that the wallet of the consumer remains “challenged” and highlighted that increased competition is also impacting sales.

Related: Papa Johns struggles to recover from concerning customer behavior

“As we look at consumer confidence, it does remain challenged amid the economic and market volatility,” said Penegor. “We’re all talking about it. We all see it. We’ve seen intensification on competitive pressures in the promotional cycles. We’ve also seen some challenges on the lower-income cohorts.”

Consumers are specifically pulling away from having their food delivered and are instead opting to pick up their orders in stores to save money. In response to this trend, Papa Johns partnered with Google Cloud in April to “enhance” the ordering and delivery experience for its customers.

“We know we can do delivery better,” said Penegor. “And leveraging our new partnership with Google, we will improve driver dispatch and routing, increase the accuracy of our delivery time estimates, and provide better driver tracking.”

Papa Johns makes unexpected move to lure back customers 

As Papa Johns fights to reverse alarming customer behavior, it has decided to shake up its menu in order to win back customers.

The pizza chain decided that Shaq-a-Roni pizza, launched in 2020 for a limited time, will now become a permanent menu item, selling for $15.99 nationwide. The pizza is inspired by basketball player Shaquille O’Neal and became a fan-favorite five years ago due to its extra-large size.

“At Papa Johns, we’re elevating the classics that have set us apart to deliver even more value to our customers,” said Chief Marketing Officer Jenna Bromberg in a press release.

Related: Pizza Hut struggles to reverse troubling consumer trend

In addition to making Shaq-a-Roni pizza a permanent menu item, Papa Johns recently introduced Cheddar Crust pizza to its menu, which starts at $11.99 and contains a baked blend of cheddar cheese and garlic seasoning on its crust.

To pair with the pizza, the company also launched Cheddar Cheesticks, made from dough that is covered in garlic sauce and topped with seasoned cheddar cheese. They sell for $10.50 and are served with Papa Johns’ original pizza dipping sauce.

Both new menu items are available for a limited time.

Papa Johns faces growing threats

The menu changes from Papa Johns come after its competitors have also added new menu items to boost low sales.

In March, Domino’s Pizza added a Parmesan Stuffed Crust pizza to its menu after it reported weak sales during the fourth quarter of 2024.

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In April, Pizza Hut also brought back Cheesy Bites Pizza, a fan-favorite menu item, for a limited time and introduced three new exclusive dipping sauces: Chipotle Ranch, Ultimate Ranch, and Pepperoni Ranch.

The menu change occurred during a period when Pizza Hut’s system sales in the U.S. decreased by 7% year-over-year.

Many consumers have recently been avoiding fast-food restaurants due to their inflated prices, which have spiked by roughly 47% over the past decade.

Data from Ipsos Consumer Tracker last year revealed that 34% of U.S. consumers have cut back on having dinner at fast-food restaurants. A total of 30% also said they have been avoiding getting dinner from takeout or delivery, while 45% said they are cooking dinner at home more.

Related: Domino’s Pizza suffers a startling loss as customers switch gears

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