SAN DIEGO — Papa John's broke the world record for the largest pizza order and delivery. Papa John's delivered 13,500 pizzas promptly at 11 a.m., June 8 at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego.
According to a news release, more than 6,000 NASSCO employees, subcontractors and Navy sailors at the shipyard were on hand to accept the pizza delivery from Papa John's, a reward for completing construction of the Navy's newest dry cargo/ammunition ship, the USNS Lewis and Clark.
The crew has spent the last 2 1/2 years building the auxiliary ship, which measures 689 feet long, 106 feet wide, travels up to 20 knots and has a displacement of 41,000 metric tons.
The current Guinness World Record for "World's Largest Pizza Order" was set in August 1998 with an order placed by the VF Corporation of Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.A. for 13,386 pizzas at 180 locations across the United States.
Not only did the 13,500-pizza order from NASSCO exceed the current "World's Largest Pizza Order," but all of Papa John's pizzas were delivered to a single location, with a single delivery time. Papa John's said it plans to submit an application — supplemented with photographs, video and independent witness statements — to Guinness World Records for official authentication as the new record holder.
"Our staff eagerly stepped up to the challenge to complete this order in the tight timeframe provided by the military," said Maggie Scivicque, director of sales and marketing in San Diego.
The NASSCO employees enjoyed custom 6-inch Papa's Perfect Pan pizzas, created by Papa John's specifically for this occasion. To meet the 11 a.m. delivery time, Papa John's used the resources of 15 San Diego-area restaurants beginning at 6 a.m., with each making approximately 56 pizzas per minute throughout the morning.
