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Mr 'Papa John' John H Schnatter flew into Bahrain this week on a whirlwind tour of his global pizza empire admitting he was astonished how fast his food chain had grown.
Just days after his 48th birthday the founder, chairman, and former CEO of Papa John's International, who founded the company in 1984, popped in to meet members of staff at a special celebratory event at the outlet in Jawad Dome on Budiaya Highway on Monday evening.
"I never expected this much success when I first started. All I wanted was to have $50,000 in my bank account so I could get a date!" said Mr Schnatter.
Born in Jeffersonville in the US state of Indiana, he started work in the pizza business during high school, at the age of 15. He obtained a degree in business administration from Ball State University in 1983 while practicing his trade at the local Greek's Pizzeria.
At the aged 22 he expanded the kitchen at his father's bar, Mick's Lounge, where he began his own pizza business. Today, there are almost 3,000 restaurants with the name Papa John's worldwide.
An acquaintance who shared his university dorm came up with the name 'Papa John's', which remains firmly on the lips of all pizza-lovers, and Mr Schnatter says at the time he promised him free food for life in return for his work.
"I worked it out the other day that at 10 dollars a pizza, once a week, I probably now owe him more than $12,500 worth of pizza.
"He never did collect, so I'm thinking of launching a campaign to find him. If he happens to be living in Bahrain tell him to get in touch!"
Mr Schnatter appears in numerous 'Papa John's' TV commercials and usually ends with his familiar mantra, 'Better ingredients, better pizza, Papa John's'.
He was full of praise for the outlets in the kingdom saying: "They have followed the Papa John's philosophy to the letter and I am absolutely delighted. They are world class!"
GulfWeekly's columnist Charlie Holding met the business multi-millionaire at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Spa and grabbed the opportunity to meet his former boss.
Charlie, 25, used to work behind the counter at Papa John's in London to earn a crust during his student days, and said: "I asked him if he could recall the last time he had made a pizza and he proudly replied 'just yesterday'. It was pretty impressive as he was in China - the home of takeaway food!"
In 2007, Mr Schnatter was inducted into the Junior Achievement US Business Hall of Fame, the youngest person to date.
In May of that year he stepped down as the CEO of Papa John's to serve only as the chairman of the board of directors. In the move he remained as a spokesman for the company with no cash compensation, just stock options.
Jawad Business Group, the operator of Papa John's Pizza in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and UAE recently won the regional round of a worldwide competition of Papa John's 'Pizza Games'. To mark the victory Mr Schnatter handed out awards to the winners. CEO and founder of Jawad Business Group Faisal Jawad was also present.
