WDRB News
Papa John's founder and former CEO, John Schnatter, said in an interview with a local news outlet that he "had over 40 pizzas in the last 30 days, and it's not the same pizza."
- Papa John's CEO Rob Lynch said that the pizza chain has not changed its recipe, following founder and former CEO John Schnatter's claims that quality had declined since he left the company.
- "I've had over 40 pizzas in the last 30 days," Schnatter previously told WDRB News. "And it's not the same pizza. It's not the same product. It just doesn't taste as good."
- Schnatter resigned as Papa John's chairman in 2018 after using the N-word during a company conference call earlier that year.
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Papa John's CEO Rob Lynch said that the pizza chain has not changed its recipe - despite the claims of the company's founder to the contrary.
"We haven't made any changes to the way we make it or what goes into our products," Lynch said on CNBC's Squawk on the Street on Wednesday.
Last week, Papa John's founder and former CEO John Schnatter alleged that the company had destroyed the pizza's quality since his departure.
"I've had over 40 pizzas in the last 30 days," Schnatter told WDRB News, a Fox affiliate in Louisville, Kentucky, in an interview last week. "And it's not the same pizza. It's not the same product. It just doesn't taste as good."
Schnatter resigned as Papa John's chairman in 2018 after using the N-word during a company conference call earlier that year. In December 2017, he stepped down as CEO following backlash for his criticism of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality.
Lynch joined Papa John's as CEO in August. Previously, he served as president of Arby's.
"We don't really focus on that," Lynch told CNBC of Schnatter's comments. "Mr. Schnatter is entitled to his opinion. We're focused on doing the things that are going to move the business forward."
In the WDRB News interview, Schnatter described his ousting as a "farce." He slammed Papa John's new leaders, including Steve Ritchie, who initially replaced him as CEO, and board members Olivia Kirtley and Mark Shapiro, both of whom Schnatter said "should be in jail."
"They stole the company, and now they've destroyed the company," Schnatter said.
Schnatter told WDRB News that he believes the truth about his ousting has yet to emerge.
"The day of reckoning will come," Schnatter said.