Papa John's Pizza To Raise Prices Because Of Obamacare, CEO John Schnatter Says

[onehandle]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by REP (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Huffington Post

After President Obama's health care law takes full effect, the slogan for national pizza chain Papa John's may need an update. Instead of, “Better ingredients. Better Pizza,” may we suggest, “Better health care. Pricier pizza."

Papa John's CEO John Schnatter says that Obamacare will result in a $0.11 to $0.14 price increase per pizza, or $0.15 to $0.20 cents per order, Pizza Marketplace, a trade publication, reports. (Hat tip: @dkberman via Twitter.)

Under Obamacare, the company, which is the third-largest pizza takeout and delivery chain in the United States, will have to offer health care coverage to more of its 16,500 total employees or pay a penalty to the government.

The National Restaurant Association pointed out following the health care law's Supreme Court approval that it may adversely affect restaurants’ ability to maintain already slim profit margins because it requires companies of more than 50 employees to provide affordable health insurance.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/papa-johns-obamacare-pizza_n_1752126.html

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FYI: This asshole recently threw a zillion dollar fundraiser for Mittens, who promptly virtually felated the shitty pizza maker.

[robinlynne]

1. guess where i will never eat again.....

[Kingofalldems]

31. Yep.

[cstanleytech]

72. We cut down ordering from them a out 3 - 4 years ago after they added their

"delivery fee" which was really a hidden price hike since they dont pass on to their employees.
Mind you we still order from them now and then since there isnt a good independent pizza shop in our area and we prefer their pizza over pizza hut and dominos but we just dont order anywhere near as often.

[Purveyor]

2. Oh good. Let us start another boycott that will also FAIL and prompt unprecedented media attention.

eom

[Squinch]

27. Yeah, but still. I'm not eating there either. Mostly because the pizza sucks. But this too.

[BlueStreak]

48. The pont is not to try to put them out of business. The point is ..

to educate business people that in any economy, and especially in a tough economy, it is never a good idea to piss off half your customers. If the guy wants to have private right-wing views, that is his own business. If he is going to use his business as a stage to promote his worldview, I am not going to buy his product.

That is just stupid on his part, and his stupidity needs to be pointed out.

I have an end-of semester party twice a year where I buy about 25 pizzas. In recent years, I have used Papa John's. I am going to write the HQ to let them know I will find another company to supply my needs.

That won't put them out of business. But if enough people take the time to write on this subject, perhaps the gentleman will learn that he needs to keep his political views separate from his business.

Frankly it is pretty appalling that he would be up in arms about 10 cents per pizza and I bet if we actually dug into it, we would find that only 5% of his employees are actually covered by a health plan he provides. And I bet we would also find that his costs have not gone up this year at anything like the rate they went up the past 5 years. But if he thinks things like no co-pay for preventive medicine aren't worth 10 cents a pizza, then this is not the kind of company I want to do business with.

Anybody know if Pizza Hut has a more humane feeling about its employees?

[Bjorn Against]

66. Pizza Hut is terrible, I used to work there years ago

The pay was less than a dollar above minimum wage and they would occasionally drop our pay by a small amount like a nickel per hour hoping we would not notice. There were no benefits, they would write us into the schedule after it had already been posted without notifying us but then we would get in trouble if we did not show up, it was probably the worst job I ever had.

I would recommend using a local pizza joint, they usually have better pizza and you are keeping the money in the local economy rather than sending it off to some corporate CEO half way across the country.

[canuckledragger]

71. yeah...you yanks can take Pizza Hut back.

I never worked there but tried their pizza a few times...yuck.

some of the shittiest 'pizza' I've ever had

may as well call it deep fried dough & burnt bacon crumbs.

I agree with the support of local businesses though...the vast majority of chains have no real vested interest in the local economy, suck all the money out of it never to be seen again & have waaay to much power & influence in general...plus bringing down quality & such.

[indie9197]

77. Bingo. Well said.

He's an idiot.

[WCGreen]

3. Heck I'll pay .15 cents if some working people have access to health care...

[atreides1]

12. There's no guarantee of that

Remember businesses will have the option of not playing...and these workers will buy their insurance through an exchange system, that doesn't take effect until 2014.

[WCGreen]

54. Well, if they made a better pizza.

What makes PJ's different is they stay open past bar closing around here so they must sell a bunch of their crappy pizza's then.

[The Wielding Truth]

13. Me too. I can't believe PJ's was cheap enough to not offer insurance. This says a lot about

how little they care about their employees. This is bad PR for Papa Johns.

[Flatpicker]

65. Me too.

I don't think the .15 will break me.

Doubly happy about it if it means HC for the employees.

[liberal N proud]

4. If it really was to cover health care for the employees, I wouldn't mind.

But my guess is that most of this will be profit for the greedy ones.

[azurnoir]

5. for 20 cents it's worth it

IMO we're going see higher prices anyway because of the drought

[NYC Liberal]

6. So what? I have no doubt prices went up when we started

standardizing building and health codes and workplace safety regulations.

And if they're bullshitting and doing it just to raise prices then others will simply undercut them.

[kysrsoze]

69. And who wants to be subjected to that shit they call pizza anyway?

Non-issue, with no downside, IMO.

[bluestateguy]

7. Well

That is a price worth paying so that working people can have health care.

[atreides1]

8. Well if that's the case...I'm done with his company.

I have bought my last pizza from his company...time to start supporting local vendors. The reality is this has nothing to do with ACA, this is just plain fucking greed on the part of another Republican hack!

[speedoo]

9. Papa John's = World's worst pizza.

And I hate their goofy ads, so I don't care what that garbage costs.

[Scootaloo]

18. Second-worst, actually

Godfathers is still the shittiest shit ever shat.

[Yeah Its Spin]

33. I will add pizza ranch, who is replacing GF across the midwest

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

43. And Domino's is all "Pro-Coat Hanger".

Indy, Indy, Indy-best restaurants, films and music.

[Freddie]

87. Plus their pizza sucks!

[Wait Wut]

10. I have no problem paying 15-20¢ extra...

...to possibly save a Papa John's employee's life. But, I do have a hard time paying 1 frggin' ¢ to fund this asshole's lifestyle and idiotic choices.

Sorry PJ employees. Good luck with that fuckwad.

[Cha]

37. Exactly! And, he's a

Whiny fukwad.

[BeyondGeography]

11. 15 cents per pizza and that requires a blame Obamacare announcement?

Seems Papa Wingnut just wants to score a point.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

14. OK? So? And?

This dipstick has such an abysmally low opinion of his customers that he thinks that we'd throw our friends and neighbors under the bus for $0.15 on a pizza. Really?

Hey! We can give that homeless family a roof over their head, but it will cost you a quarter.

What a dope.

[riverbendviewgal]

15. If I was near a Papa John's I would go down and buy one

and I would give the cashier when I pay for it an extra 50 cents (or bigger tip if I ate it there if it is sit down restaurant) AND I would tell that employee how Happy I am that they will be able to get affordable health insurance......and I would give them a card addressed to CEO Schnatter that would state how happy I was to pay for that extra few cents so that all the employees of Papa John's can get Obamacare. It is the best thing since sliced bread (or sliced pizza.)

[n2doc]

16. I'll eat at my local joint

Prices are about the same, pie sooooo much better.

[warrprayer]

26. Our Local Pizza

tastes 10 times better than corporate

[zeemike]

36. I quit eating chain store pizza a long time ago.

Cause after eating one It made me so incredibly thirsty I cold not get enough to drink.
The "better ingredients" is a joke...the buy cheese by the ton and to cover the fact that it is mostly artificial cheese they put a lot of sodium in it to hide the fact that it is tasteless crap.
Local Pizza or make your own...that is the right thing to do for your body.

[TrollBuster9090]

17. Thanks for letting me know, Mr. Snatcher. There are plenty of other places to buy pizza that DON'T

go out of their way to insult the half of the country that backs President Obama.

And I have news for you: if you're hoping to cash in on some of that Chick-Fil-A crowd, forget it. They've already pigged out on anti-gay-marriage chicken sandwiches. They'll have to barf if they wan't to make ANOTHER political statement about Obamacare.

[Cha]

45. LOL! That's what I like..a good

Rant that puts the ugly whininess of mr corporate greedy pizza pusher in his place.

[Major Nikon]

19. Even if this is true it's moronic

11 cents per pizza? Who the fuck is even going to notice? That's a 1% increase and the tradeoff is that even people who work at a pizza parlor get access to a basic human need. Sounds like a no brainer. No wonder wingnuts don't get it.

[Beowulf]

20. Didn't Papa host a major Romney fundraiser

at his estate, which includes an 18 hole golf course?

[mn9driver]

21. They currently provide no health care at all to nearly all of their employees.

They keep most of their hourly workers on "part time" status to avoid being required to give them any benefits at all.

[onehandle]

23. Yep. It's a fast food joint. How many fast food workers get benefits at all?

Maybe three at a location will get it. The manager and maybe, Maybe an assistant manager or two.

[Freddie]

90. There is no requirement

To give anyone benefits if they're full-time. It's many companies' policy but there is no requirement for an employer to give you *anything* except minimum wage & OT over 40 (unless you're "salaried&quot

[KamaAina]

22. Bullpucky!

As pointed out elsewhere, most Papa John's franchisees employ less than 50 people, and so do not come under the ACA employer mandates. Only multiple franchise owners might be included.

[geardaddy]

24. I already don't order from them.

Just another reason not to.

[warrprayer]

25. Another product

I can live without. Last time I eat there.

[MannyGoldstein]

28. So would they drop the price by a buck if

we had health care that cost the same as other industrialized countries? 8% of every dollar they spend goes for health care, vs. 17% in the US.

[BlueStreak]

55. It is a point well taken. And we need to talk about the bigger picture

Yes, indeed, they could offer their product at a lower price (I don't know about a dollar less) if our haelth care cost what other countries are paying.

But not just Papa John's. EVERY business could lower their prices substantially -- or keep the prices the same and be more profitable.

And at the margins, there are some jobs that would not have to be outsourced to China and India if our health care burden were not so high.

The bloat in our health care system is draining our ability to compete as a nation.

[MannyGoldstein]

62. But realistic, practical, Third Way Democrats know that

this should be added to the list of things we can do nothing about.

Can't even bring it up.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/06/1116358/-Nothing-can-be-done

[Blue Owl]

29. Between 2000-2008, the price of pizza increased by a several dollars

Hmm, I wonder who was pResident then?

[Dash87]

30. This is what's wrong with us

We think of everything in terms of money, and not how this will make a better society as a whole.

[dhill926]

32. well then.....

I'll save even more money by not eating there.

[Kingofalldems]

34. Of course this is a trick---probably coordinated with repug headquarters

[BlueNAlabama]

35. Who cares what they do?

Their pizza tastes like shit anyway so raise it all you want. I am a resident of Alabama and my vote for Obama won't make a difference anyway but I'll always be a "damned Liberal"!!!

[Lugnut]

38. John Schnatter is one of Mitten's buddies.

Take it for what it's worth.

[Auggie]

39. Screw CEOs like John Schnatter and their assembly-line tastless food

The pizza my wife and I make is a million times better

[Kingofalldems]

40. BTW, apparently there is a HUGE markup as

they give 1/2 price on pizza any time the Nats win and score 5 runs. I assume they do this everywhere and I bet they still make money. This whole thing is a crock.

[SemperEadem]

41. their pizza is nasty, anyways...

dont' eat it and never will.

[Pauldg47]

53. Bad sauce....

....too spicy and acidic.

[ElboRuum]

93. Cheapest institutional size cans of crap they could find...

...I'd bet.

[LynneSin]

42. Oh boo-hoo. So I'll pay an extra 20 cents so employees can have healthcare

What a douchebag!

[RebelOne]

44. I could care less. I never order from Papa John's. n/t

[truthisfreedom]

46. So what? This shithead is charging more for pizza because of his massive contributions to mittens

already. Who gives a crap about another 15 cents?

[MNBrewer]

47. I would happily pay 20 cents more so that the minimum wage employees can have health care

Doesn't seem too much of a burden, really.

[global1]

49. Well Now - That Ought To Make Papa Johns Competitive......nt

[Pauldg47]

50. Won't small business benefit from Obama care?

They will hold their workers longer, with less roll-over.

[kenfrequed]

51. BS friggin talk.

Seriously, pretty friggin tough for someone who has employees that live on friggin tips.

And .20 cents and order? Big friggin deal. These bastards jack their rates a buck for no reason. You think I'm not willing to shell out a quarter for a pizza knowing the person might have health care. Hell if you had said you were going to promise to provide great healthcare for all your employees and were charging us an extra quarter a pizza, I would have said Yes!

The fact of the matter is that you bastards weren't willing to front the extra money to do this and for some ideologically idiotic reason now are whining about it. Well suck it up. You could have backed a universal single payer system that would have put the health care system into something with better cost controls but you decided, with your selfish little three-size-too-small teaparty hearts, that it was better to howl at the moon in a ragefest against it. Well here is your comeuppance. People need healthcare and if you don't pony up individually and can't agree to do so collectively then pick up the check.

[SpankMe]

52. Schnatter's a partisan hack. 15-cents per pie is nothing

I found a three year old Papa John's takeout menu in a drawer in my kitchen. Prices today are up around a dollar from then on many items. Also, I know from traveling that Papa John's prices are different throughout the country. In rural areas, menu prices can be 30 to 50 cents less for large pizzas than in larger cities. It depends on local costs and other factors.

Plus, back when gas was $5 per gallon, a Papa John's location in Southern Cali added a fuel surcharge for delivery.

So, $0.15 per pizza is all but buried in the background noise of the other cost "turbulence" in an active marketplace.

To make some grand pronouncement that these almost trivial increased costs due to the ACA will "cost jobs, inhibit growth" or be some other kind of dealbreaker to the consumer is pure opportunistic bull.

I know some small business people to will have a tough time with ACA, so ACA isn't totally free of negative impact to all business. But, an enterprise as huge as Papa John's can cope easily. He should just shut up and move on.

[Bjorn Against]

68. Here is a picture of John Schnatter's home

Papa John has no problem affording his own castle, but he claims he can't afford to provide his employees with healthcare. Once he is living like his employees live I might have some sympathy for him, but anyone who lives a life of absolute luxury while denying basic needs to the very people who provide him that luxury deserves no sympathy from anyone. Papa John is a greedy bastard.

[dbackjon]

56. Hey jackass - not that I will ever order your pizza again, but

I will gladly pay 15 cents a pizza more in order for your employees to have health care benefits.



if you weren't such a jackass, you'd already offer them that.

[The Wizard]

57. Maybe their pizza sucks

because their employees are sick and can't afford medical care. Do they offer scabs and pus as toppings?

[Kyad06]

80. That is a nasty visual

but that crap tastes like it contains it ! I am fortunate to live on the real Jersey Shore where we have great local pizza and seafood. And yet these corporate crap chains like Papa Jerks, Dominos, and Pizza Barf are here. Not to mention Red Chinese Lobster LOL

[Panasonic]

58. One less family.

We finally quit on Papa John's a few months ago, dumping their shitty quality.

I'd rather support the local ones... Extreme Pizza in Denver and Carl's Pizzeria in north Denver is a particular favorite. All local.

[rvt1000rr]

59. I wouldn't buy his pizza for half the price:

I have tried Pappa John's pizza a couple of times, it's not a good pizza, really.

[Vietnameravet]

60. No

Tut !Tut! I just cant imagine the hardship of paying an extra twenty cents on a pizza or seeing the CEO's pay cut just so some family can have health care!!! only Adolph Hitler and Barack Obama would have thought of that!!! ( I would say more but my horse is about to practice his dressage and I simply must leave.. Pip! Pip! Cheerio!!)

[1StrongBlackMan]

61. Doesn't the ACA ...

exempt employers with less than full-time 50 employees?

I suspect that exemption attaches to 99.99% of Papa Johns' franchises and would only affect the PJ headquarters ... maybe.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/papajohnsintlinc/282662-0.html

[SoapBox]

63. Dog whistle!

Look for other ConservaTurd/Bagger rich to do the same thing.

Too bad the ACA doesn't (probably) include something that you can't just price gouge your
customers or employees, just to make a BIGGER corporate profit (and bonus' for the execs).

We've NEVER bought anything from this clown...we heard/read about him years ago.

[freshwest]

64. Less money off the taxpayers, then. They never bring up they're being subsidized like Walmart.

That is the point that needs to be brought out repeatedly to refute this drivel.

[Ian David]

67. What a liar. n/t

[2pooped2pop]

70. was 20 cents an order worth whining about

You could be setting yourself up for a boycot just coming out against healthcare, and it's all for .20 an order?

[greymattermom]

73. I've always thought it is scary

if the people making your food don't have health care. What issues do they have that don't get treated? How many of those can you catch? Hepatitis anyone?

[Deb]

74. Who ordered whine with the pizza?

Romney and friends are all alike...

[part man all 86]

75. Yet they, American businesses, have to provide health care in countries outside the United States.

In America we have to go without health care like at papa jerks.

[billky]

76. Shut up Papa John

Instead of complaining, you should have already been treating your employees with some respect; they should have already had health insurance. These companies want people to work like slaves and get nothing in return.

[DinahMoeHum]

78. So WTF? national chain pizzas suck anyway.

and except for the college towns, they don't do that well here in the Northeast - not with all those mom-and-pop places around.

[Initech]

79. Like I'll pay that kind of money for their tomato paste and cheese covered cardboard again.

[titanicdave]

81. No Problem...

their pizza stinks and we have not ordered from Papa John's for more than 10 years......so as far as we are concerned......the employees who will now be offered health care will reap the benefits rather than the top brass getting all of the money

[ElboRuum]

82. Wow. I might shed a tear for the employees who lose their jobs...

...but I'll not shed a tear for any McPizza chain that goes down the toilet.

Papa John's, and I'd never thought I'd say this about any pizza, is worse than Pizza Hut.

[pepperbear]

83. uhm,the elephant in the room.....

1. gas prices go up, so will his prices, especially with the delivery = Obama's fault
2. his prices would go up anyway = obama's fault
3. raising his taxes will make his prices go up= Obama's fault
4. asking him to provide medical care to, more than likely only his FULL TIMERS, will make his prices go up = obama's fault
(which also makes one wonder how many people in the company will be laid off or sent to part-time purgatory.)

Obama's fault.

[ElboRuum]

88. So what do you suggest?

Do you suggest we give Papa's a waiver to prevent all of those people in this country without access to a mom-and-pop pizza shop from blaming Obama for something that he'd get blamed for anyway?

If they raise the prices, people go to a competitor, as if it's hard to find McPizza alternatives in this day and age. Or better yet, they find a nice pizza place that makes pizza from an actual dough ball rather than a preformed frozen dough tart, and learn what pizza's actually supposed to taste like.

It's called "the cost of doing business". If they feel like their profits aren't fat enough doing their business to eat the cost of doing business, they'll either quit doing business or go out of business. Someone less greedy will fill the vacuum they'd create.

And if they want to whine that its Obama's fault, and if the RNC wants to say that a fine American brand like :snork: Papa John's was driven under by draconian health policy (and they think that they can fly that one without having everyone whose ever eaten their pizza laugh themselves into a coma), so be it.

But they WILL PAY THEIR SHARE.

[pepperbear]

96. uh no....I was saying it's alway obama's fault to them...

with all due respect....JEEZ with the misunderstandings. you're snappiness is unwarranted.

[leftylauren]

84. If thats all it would cost him he is an idiot for not offering Health Insurance sooner

Surely he would make his .11 to .14 per Pizza investment back 10 fold in reduction of turnover.

[Smilo]

85. Anything to try and disparage Obamacare -

they expect their workers to work for shitty wages and no benefits and now they have to provide something they whine and cry as if the world is going to end.

Hey asshole - the reason we are finally getting some sort of health care action in this country is because Obama CARES!

[obxhead]

86. So the $9.99 pizza special will become the $10.13 special?

Somehow I really doubt that. Imagine the commercials.

[asjr]

89. Is he the pizza guy who founded a complete

city in FL for Catholics to live in?

[tammywammy]

91. That's the Dominoes guy. n/t

[SILVER__FOX52]

92. Tough Shit ..................

John !

[4lbs]

94. That's fine I don't eat Papa John's, or Dominos for that matter.

If I eat pizza, I'll get either Pizza Hut or Shakey's.

Or I will go to one of several locally owned pizza parlors.

[dballance]

95. So I'm supposed to be upset it might cost me less than a quarter per order to provide care

for people???? If you are such a Christian business person John then perhaps you should reflect on just how petty that is.

Papa John used to go to the same church as my sister and husband do in Louisville, KY. Last I looked they were building a new mega church I rudely called the "Baptist Mall." Not sure if he still goes there.

It had all those things Jesus was for like the gym and basketball courts. The pool and the ping-pong tables and a gift shop and holy cafe. Apparently someone realized the "message" they were selling about God and Jesus needed a little more marketing umph to keep people filing into their "place of worship" and drop dollars in the plate as it is passed around.

Instead of building a mega-church/mall perhaps using those funds to help out the poor, the homeless, the down-trodden might have been in order?

I will happily pay an extra quarter per order to any business in order for them to provide health care to their workers. Too bad Pappa John thinks it's a penalty.

[mzmolly]

97. One more fattening place

to boycott. Not that I mind paying an additional 15 cents a pizza so the guy making it has health benefits ...

[LibGranny]

98. Fortunately, my town has Dominoes, Pizza Hut, and Papa Murphy's (and Papa John's)

but NOBODY makes better pizza than my husband! LOL

[REP]

99. Locking

This is news from June. Please see this thread in GD: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021088798

Thanks!