Toque of the Town: Papa Murphy's Says, Taste and See

Papa Murphys Take ‘N Bake Pizza builds sales with new pies, add-ons and free samples.

By Monica Rogers, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 11/1/2005

It happens daily: A Papa Murphy’s employee rolls a cheery little cart to a strategic spot outside Wal-Mart. He flips on the lights, and throngs line up for free samples of hot pizza.

“It’s the quickest way to correct any misconceptions people may have about take-and-bake pizza’s quality,” says Doug Collins, vice president of research and development.

Half those samplers will stop by Papa Murphy’s counter inside to buy a pizza, the company says. Even better, 80 percent will buy again.

“My job right now? It’s both about developing products that will satisfy and impress those first-time guests and about giving repeat customers lots of good reasons to come back,” Collins says.

Growing in leaps and bounds—100 new units in 2005; 150 planned for 2006—850-unit Papa Murphy’s has stepped up sampling strategies, meal-bundle tests and new pizzas to snag trials in new markets. It is also working hard to build repeat traffic and average checks by adding more salads, pastas and desserts.

“Instead of just sending guests home with a pizza, we’re hoping to send them home with a full meal,” Collins says.

It makes sense to William Bender, restaurant consultant and principal of San Jose, Calif.-based W.H. Bender and Associates. “Sampling’s a great way to get guests to the store for that first trial, and the moves they’re making to give guests lots of options when they get there are right on point,” he says. “It’s critical that Papa Murphy’s become a ‘one stop shop’ able to sell everything needed for a full meal, not just pizza. It gets rid of the veto vote, and mom doesn’t want to have to drive all over to build a meal.”

New Pies Please
Add-ons are important, but pizza is still the priority. Papa Murphy’s Sicilian Pan Pizza, which launched in October, tested higher for taste and purchase intent (90 percent) during limited-store testing than any product. Olive-oil-brushed dough topped with Sicilian-style pizza sauce, whole-milk mozzarella, pepperoni, Italian sausage, fire-roasted onions, Parmesan and dollops of herbed tomato sauce, Sicilian Pan Pizza took a year to develop and will be a new pizza category “if it earns its way on to the core menu,” Collins says.

Dough for the rectangular pan pizzas is marinated in olive oil before being sheeted 25 percent thicker than original round

pizzas. They’re baked in aluminum pans, black-coated so they absorb, rather than reflect, heat. “The objective is a rich, almost fried crust,” Collins says. Sicilian Pan Pizzas come in two sizes: original, a half-sheet pan for $8.99, and family, a full sheet pan for $13.99.

Mediterranean Pizza, sans tomato sauce but brushed with olive oil and topped with garlic, mozzarella and feta cheeses, fresh spinach, herb-tossed chicken breast and sun-dried tomatoes, is also expected to set records. Collins reports limited-store test scores of 7 percent to 9 percent of sales without advertising support.

Collins and his two development assistants face unique challenges. “It’s tougher in some ways to do R&D for a take-and-bake concept. You’ve got to send the food home in packaging that’s going to double as the cooking vessel,” he says. “It’s got to get the food home in one piece, be affordable and be easy for the guest to work with through the cooking process.”

Papa Murphy’s deLITE pizzas are an interesting example. With a St. Louis-style cracker crust, deLITEs start with a different dough recipe and proofing method. DeLITEs come five ways (cheese, pepperoni, meat, veggie or the now-in-test Mediterranean) but are only available in the 14-inch size. Going any bigger would result in a soggy middle. Collins explains that Papa Murphy’s ovenable paperboard tray acts as a slight insulator.

Adding On Extras
To encourage guests to take home more than pizza, Papa Murphy’s new stores include grab-and-go cases stocked with salads, pasta dishes and chocolate-chip-cookie dough. Cheesy Bread, Papa Murphy’s pizza-shaped breadsticks, and Cinnamon Rolls also tempt customers.

The launch last April of Chicken Caesar Salad in tandem with the refrigerated grab-and-go cases has boosted salad sales by 25 percent. Cheesy Bread, $2.79, fresh dough topped with herbs, garlic olive oil and four cheeses, and served with dipping sauce, is Papa Murphy’s highest selling add-on.

Chocolate-chip-cookie-dough sales (1 pound bucket for $2.50) are close behind. “We had to reformulate the recipe so that it would have good mouthfeel in its raw state because so many people were eating the dough right out of the tubs before baking it,” Collins laughs.

Collins also expects the November launch of Cinnamon Rolls, $3.99 for eight, to do well based on tests begun in September 2004. “Our hope is to send guests home with pizza for tonight and cinnamon rolls for breakfast tomorrow,” he says.

The first systemwide test of bundled meal deals is also intended to increase checks. “We’ve tried bundling meals in various ways at various franchises, but this is the first time we’re gearing up for a systemwide test,” says Collins.

He is also optimistic about pasta, “a category we’ve never jumped on with both feet,” says Collins. “It’s been a nice add-on sale, but we see it as having potential for something much more.” He envisions a tossed-to-order format, where customers could select from a variety of fresh noodles, toppings and sauces.

Mature Development
Now 25 years old, Papa Murphy’s is moving to a more formalized, 24-month marketing calendar and testing ways to glean customer feedback. “The plan is to use quantitative methods like online surveys to ensure ideas are on strategy and that purchase intent is strong,” Collins says.

It’s a pleasant juncture for analytically minded Collins. His fascination with numbers and the way people think led to a quantitative-psychology degree from UCLA. He first applied the degree teaching math to high school students, but moved into restaurants, where he felt he could impact more people, managing Baker’s Square restaurants then Papa Murphy’s. Collins has been with the company since 1989, first as a franchisee and then corporately in operations, business services, marketing and finally R&D.

He says new product ideas come from the field, franchisees, vendor partners and employees. Cheesy Bread, for example,

was born out of employee eating habits. “We used to sell the bread simply brushed with olive oil and herbs,” Collins says. “But the employees liked putting cheese on top.” Adding four-cheese topping in 2003 raised sales of the product by 25 percent to 30 percent.

Looking ahead, Collins hints that “health issues continue to be a big area of focus for our guests,” which may lead to a multigrain crust. But whatever gets developed next, pizza, side dish or dessert, “Our process will always start with a lot of research in the field,” Collins concludes.