Papa John’s International, Inc. announced the grand opening of the first Papa John’s restaurant in Lahore, Pakistan. Raheel Choudhary, the CEO of PJ Crescent Limited, is the master franchisee for this 45-store development agreement. Choudhary is an award-winning franchisee of 38 Papa John’s restaurants in the United Kingdom. PJ Crescent opened the first Papa John’s restaurant in Lahore, Pakistan today, and a second store in Lahore will open in a few weeks.
“We are excited about establishing and expanding the Papa John’s pizza brand in Pakistan,” says Choudhary. “We believe that our passion for better ingredients will translate well to Lahore and throughout Pakistan. We also believe customers will love our quality pizza and we hope to become Pakistan’s favorite pizza chain.”
“The Papa John’s brand continues to grow internationally and we are pleased to extend into the Pakistan market,” adds Steve Ritchie, president and CEO of PJI. “We look forward to introducing the Pakistani people to our quality ingredients, and we are also are excited to see Raheel bring his commitment to the Papa John’s brand from London to Pakistan.”
The entry into Pakistan continues the Papa John’s international business development strategy. Papa John’s currently has more than 1,960 international restaurants in 46 countries in addition to the United States and Canada. Papa John’s International is looking for potential franchisees in Australia, Japan, Brazil and South Africa.
