The History Of Pepperoncini Served With Papa John’s Pizza

Food has a lot of emotions and stories associated with it and Papa John’s has a history with pepperoncini. If a customer buys a pizza from them, they get one of pickled green pepperoncini in the box and with an interview with Thrillist, Sean Muldoon the Chief Ingredient officer of Papa John’s spilled the beans.

The Story

John Schattner used to work as a dishwasher in Indiana at a local pub. This pub he used to work at served a pepper with each pizza which is a common thing in central Indiana. Schattner later founded Papa John’s and brought the tradition of serving peppers with pizza to his father’s pub when he began making his own pies.

Sourcing Peppers From Turkey

The pepperoncini served by Papa John’s are all sourced from Turkey and is responsible for 25% of its business there. The pizza chain has gone through a major expansion in nineties causing a shortage of the peppers in Turkey and today are the only chain serving this combination.