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Take-and-bake pizza chain opening in Hawaii

Erika Engle
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COURTESY PAPA MURPHY’S

“Hawaiian” pizza from Papa Murphy’s.

The first of 15 Papa Murphy’s take-and-bake pizza stores will open in Hawaii later this year.

The publicly traded Papa Murphy’s Holdings LLC announced it had reached a development agreement with Take-n-Bake Hawaii LLC, led by Sean Uezu, who runs other food and retail franchises in the islands.

Papa Murphy’s sells customizable pizzas that customers can order online, pick up, take home and bake.

Pizza dough is made daily in-house, whole-milk Mozzarella also is grated by hand and fresh vegetables also are prepared in-store daily. Take-home pizzas bake in 15 minutes.

“Our goal in entering this market was to find a multi-unit developer with extensive experience and relationships within the region who would protect and promote our fresh pizza brand,” said Jayson Tipp, Papa Murphy’s Holdings chief development officer and senior vice president of technology, in a statement. “We are confident that Take-n-Bake Hawaii LLC with their (quick service restaurant) experience and deep roots in the local community are the ideal team to help busy families in Hawaii solve the dinnertime dilemma.”

Area Developer Sean Uezu operates five Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen locations and eight T-Mobile Premium Retail stores on Oahu.

“We look forward to working with Papa Murphy’s to exclusively develop the Hawaiian market and offer America’s favorite take-and-bake pizza with a big aloha,” Uezu said, in a statement.

39 responses to “Take-and-bake pizza chain opening in Hawaii”

  1. oiwi808 says:

    I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy Papa Murphy’s while traveling…very good pizza. Hopefully they can make a good run here.

    • DeltaDag says:

      Nothing really novel about take-and-bake pizza outlets on Oahu. Anyone here remember Papa Aldo’s?

    • seaborn says:

      It’s lots cheaper to get all the ingredients at Safeway and bake one at home. Plus, don’t have to wait for delivery.

      • Larry01 says:

        If you could just buy enough ingredients to make one pizza, maybe it would be cheaper. Thing is, a whole pack of pepperoni, a bell pepper, an onion, a tray of mushrooms, a jar of sauce, a bag of cheese, etc. is going to end up costing you way more in total. You want to make five pizzas, maybe it works out. It’s also going to take you a lot more time doing the prep and cleaning up. Waiting for delivery is pretty minor.

  2. honupono says:

    Hmmm I like Costco’s pizza. I take it home and wow! And its under $10 for a extra huge pizza.

  3. paradisetax says:

    This concept has been tried before in Hawaii on a number of levels and did not make it. It will be more of a curiosity. Good luck competing with Sam’s Club and Costco.

    • AhiPoke says:

      I tend to agree. I looked up their pricing and at $16 per pie it seemed a bit high especially since they sell it uncooked.

      • iwanaknow says:

        Maybe sell them out of the Popeye or cell phone stores?

        I give them one year before this pizza idea goes belly up.

        • inverse says:

          Agree, the pizza market in Hawaii is oversaturated. For cheap and decent tasting, no one will beat Costco and for higher end, this company will never compete with California Pizza Kitchen. If you have to cook it yourself you might as well go to any supermarket and buy frozen DiGiorno which would sell at half the price as this new company’s pizza. Less than one year this company will go belly up.

        • inverse says:

          PS: Forget Boston’s for the military in the Pearl City area and UH students in Manoa. Dominoes and Pizza hut do most of the delivered pizza and I don’t think they taste good but they are convenient and have widespread delivery. In Hawaii where almost everyone has to work multiple jobs just to survive would pay a premium price for a pizza and then have to spend the time and effort to cook it themselves??

        • DeltaDag says:

          Big Kahuna’s Pizza ‘n’ Stuffs near Honolulu Airport is actually quite well thought of among service members at Fort Shafter and Tripler. It may have been even more popular when they were located at their old location in that painfully green building off the side of Puuloa Road. Not the cheapest pizzas around, but well worth a visit. Try their Mexican pizza; it has a nice jalapeno kick to it.

        • bubbaButt says:

          Highly doubtful for a 34 year old company that is publicaly traded and rakes in 800 Million dollars annually.

      • KaneoheSJ says:

        A lot of people will buy into it for he novelty but it will probably fizzle out. A family took a crack at it and it failed. The price for an uncooked pizza should cost much less than a cooked one of it will simply fail. They might target he affluent with organic and no-preservative pizza but that would also probably not last long. Pizza is generally a convenience food so this added step will doom it.

  4. wrightj says:

    Shakey’s pizza, may I take your order?

  5. butinski says:

    In this age where everything is on the run, dinner included, who in his right mind would buy an uncooked pizza to bake at home? Pizza is a fast food snack, to be eaten cooked as is.

  6. fairgame947 says:

    Papa Murphy’s is great pizza. I like the idea of cooking it on my time, when I’m ready.

    • AhiPoke says:

      I suggest you and your friends buy a lot of Papa Murphy’s pizza to keep them in business. IMO, pizza is a pretty generic product. Definitely low end on the food chain. It generally has a pretty good profit margin as the ingredients are not expensive and labor is also cheap as it takes very little training and expertise. For Papa Murphy’s they also don’t have to invest in ovens. My experience has been that a pizza stays hot for a few minutes. IMO, too few to make much of a difference between cooked or delivered but I’m sure you disagree.

    • oxtail01 says:

      $16 for a much smaller size and probably less topping than a $10 Costco pizza that’s freshly baked for you. You can spend the 60% more and fool yourself into thinking it’s that much better. This chain is banking on lemmings like you. Please don’t go over the cliff with them when they fail.

  7. justmyview371 says:

    So where does the Pineapple come from? South/Central America, Asia, Africa?

  8. Morimoto says:

    I’ll give it a try. Always looking for new food places to try. I just wish they would bring back Dunkin Donuts. Anyone remember the DD in Pearl City?

  9. SHOPOHOLIC says:

    Awesome! Yet another thoroughly average fast food chain opens in Hawaii where the low expectation populace can bleat on Yelp about how great it is…

  10. lee1957 says:

    If people knew how easy it is to make from scratch they would rarely buy take out or bake in again.

  11. sailfish1 says:

    More overpriced pizza for all those people who are living day-to-day.

  12. KaneoheSJ says:

    Red Baron was my factories due to their crispy outer crust and stringy mozzarella cheese. Whatever happened to them? The frozen variety is not even good. I’d love to see Red Baron Pizza back.

  13. clum56 says:

    I live only minutes from a Papa Murphy’s Pizza here in Minnesota. Their pizzas are the best for take and bake. All of their ingredients are fresh and made to order online, call in or walk up. It only takes 15-20 minutes to cook in your ovens. Its a better and healthier pizza to have for dinner or any other time of the day. It’s not as doughy as other pizza chains, lot healthier for everyone.

    Good luck, Papa Murphys

  14. Carang_da_buggahz says:

    Just what we need; another Pizza joint. Now that’s a unique enterprise…NOT.

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