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Top 10 2018 Pizza Marketplace 'reads': Predictions, problems plus Papa John's

Innovative approaches to pizza brand problems, pie flavor trends and, of course, the ubiquitous soap opera-in-a-pizza-box, Papa John's, were the leading subjects in 2018 for this site's readers and pizza brand leaders.

December 24, 2018 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Innovative approaches to pizza brand problems, pie flavor trends and, of course, the ubiquitous soap opera-in-a-pizza-box, Papa John's, were the leading subjects in 2018 for this site's readers and pizza brand leaders. 

In fact, the most read story this year on Pizza Marketplace was one of the first, a January article and interview with Rapid Fired CEO Ray Wiley and Chuck E. Cheese Senior Director of Culinary Innovation Gregory Casale about the exotic twists the pizza would take in the year ahead. The two were incredibly accurate in their predictions. 

The No. 2 and 3 most-read stories revolved around a new competitor in the pizza business that doesn't serve a single pie of any kind, as well as some pizza box innovations that put environmental sustainability and just plain old cleverness on the main burner.

That idea of clever approaches to longtime pizza challenges continued on through our top 10 list this past year, with everything from "ghost" pizzerias to an amazing deaf couple's thriving California pizza brand. But if there was a winner for most slots on the most-read list, it has to go to Papa John's and its ongoing tribulations, which were the subject of at three entries on the top 10 most-read list, which — starting at the No. 4 slot — includes:

4. NYC all-digital pizzeria does all-online ordering, all the time on Jan. 17, 2018.

5. Toppers returns to its 'rebel' roots with items 'outside the (pizza) box' on July 18, 2018.

6. Commodities: Gas prices drop, but so does Papa John's value on Dec. 3, 2018. 

7. Lessons for pizza brands in Panera's mobile pay experience on Feb. 28, 2018. 

8. Papa John's franchisees' attorney: Past year had 'a big, big impact on the franchisees' net income' on Nov. 14, 2018.

9. Commodities: Papa John's pulls out of nosedive, while Domino's dips on Aug. 20, 2018.

10. Audiologist, deaf pizzeria owners wage war on diners' No. 1 in-restaurant complaint on Feb. 21, 2018.

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.