Papa John's International, Inc.

Papa John's International, Inc. operates a global pizza delivery chain whose core product relies on animal agriculture. The company's menu is built on ingredients derived from animals, including cheese, pepperoni, sausage, and chicken. While the company has published an animal welfare policy acknowledging the physical and mental state of animals, its supply chain has been linked to documented abuses. In 2014, an animal rights group released a video showing workers whipping, kicking, and punching cows at a farm supplying cheese to major pizza chains, including Papa John's. As recently as May 2024, the company was named in a restaurant industry report for failing on pig welfare standards related to the use of caging.

The company has made some public commitments to address certain practices. In 2020, Papa John's announced it would end some of the worst abuses for chickens raised for meat in its supply chain. However, these commitments address specific issues and do not change the fundamental commercial exploitation of animals central to its business model. The scale of its operations—with thousands of restaurants worldwide—means its purchasing decisions directly impact millions of animals raised for food annually.