The Take ‘N' Bake Pizza Giant, Papa Murphy's, Redefines Pizza in the UAE

Award-winning US pizza chain opens its first branch outside Northern America with 100 more branches to follow

Dubai, UAE – 16th of September, 2013 – Papa Murphy's, the USA's largest award winning Take ‘N' Bake pizza chain, has announced the opening of its flagship store in Dubai, which is the first outside Northern America. Aside from the ever so popular Take ‘N' Bake experience, Papa Murphy's Pizza will also offer the UAE consumers the luxury of choosing the ready to eat option, bake ‘n' take, of their signature pizzas.  The store is located in Al Barsha inside Lulu Hypermarket complex. A second branch was also opened in JLT. The two inaugural branches will be followed by the opening of five Papa Murphy's Pizza restaurants within a few months from today with more stores in the pipeline planned and strategically located across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and other emirates too.

A Master Franchise Agreement with MAM Foodco LLC was signed in mid-2012 to open one hundred Papa Murphy's restaurants throughout the GCC over the next ten years, with fifty branches in the UAE alone.

Hassan Maghrabi, one of the founders of MAM Foodco, is excited to launch the first Papa Murphy's Pizza restaurant in the Middle East. “It is with no doubt that Papa Murphy's North American success will spread to the Middle East. It is certain to become a favorite of the region's foodies who will appreciate the great quality pizza, fresh ingredients and the luxury of the Take ‘n' Bake experience that has made Papa Murphy's the number one choice for U.S consumers.” “MAM Foodco is committed to providing high quality, better food and beverage experience to the consumers and Papa Murphy's is a rendition of this commitment,” he affirms.

Papa Murphy's global CEO, Ken Calwell, was in Dubai for the occasion of the grand launch in the
Middle East. “As the #1 consumer rated pizza chain in the United States, according to ZAGAT,
Technomic, and Nation's Restaurant News' Consumer Picks survey, we have built a very loyal consumer following, based on our focus on consistently providing high quality food created fresh  with fresh, premium quality ingredients.  Our high quality products combined with the uniqueness of the Take ‘n' Bake pizza concept creates a delicious, fresh and almost homemade experience that families in the Middle East appreciate and value,” explained Calwell.

With over 1,300 locations in the USA alone, Papa Murphy's is the 5th largest pizza chain in the USA and is widely acknowledged by consumers for excellence in value, quality, variety, service and convenience, not to mention the option of customizing your own pizza and having it made in front of your eyes in store which is sure to please true pizza lovers in the GCC.

The company was just ranked “#1 Rated Pizza Chain” in the U.S. in 2012 for a third consecutive year by consumers on Zagat's Annual Fast Food Survey*. Papa Murphy's also emerged in first position in the Consumer Picks survey administered by trade publication Nation's Restaurant News and research firm WD Partners. It also won the platinum award for Consumers' First Choice in pizza chains in 2006 and was selected as Pizza Today's 2009 Chain of the Year, as well as in 2001, 2006, and 2008.

A key driver of Papa Murphy's success is the connection the consumer has with the product. Not only do they decide which fresh, halal, high-quality ingredients top their pizza, but customers get to enjoy the luxury of baking it right in their own ovens for a piping hot, delicious meal whenever they want. They can also opt to buy a ready to eat pizza from the store.

In line with Papa Murphy's strive to offer “better-for-me” food products, the dough is prepared daily in the stores using high protein wheat flour. Each pizza features fresh, halal ingredients, including 100 percent all-natural, whole-milk mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Real meat toppings, with no fillers, include premium salami, pepperoni, Italian sausage and ground beef. Other toppings, including fresh Roma tomatoes, whole mushrooms, green peppers and onions, are sliced and diced daily.

“Dubai is going to love the convenience, quality and value that Papa Murphy's uniquely offers to family pizza nights,” said Mansoor Saeed, UAE operations manager.

Papa Murphy's offers a variety of signature and light pizzas as well as salads, cheesy bread, chocolate chip cookie dough, cinnamon wheels, S'Mores dessert pizza, kids pizza and soft drinks, in various sizes.

Papa Murphy's Pizza UAE offers Take ‘N' Bake as well as ready-to-eat pizza to walk in customers and home deliveries. For more information visit www.papamurphysme.com and Papa Murphy's page on Facebook www.facebook.com/PapaMurphysUAE.