If fast food is what you want, look no further than the speedy pizza-making team from Papa John’s in St Andrews.
In fact, the experienced dough slappers were crowned the quickest crew in Scotland at Papa John’s pizza games, and the third fastest in the UK.
Store manager Sarah Menzies and colleague Sean Brothers knocked out all other stores in regional heats and flew the flag for Scotland in the UK-wide finals in Milton Keynes.
The duo completed the challenge – which involves making 16 large pizzas and folding 50 boxes – in an impressive six minutes and 50 seconds. This makes them the third fastest in the UK.
“It’s quite exciting,” says store manager Sarah.
“It means a lot to represent Scotland, and to get the recognition boosts morale in the team.”
St Andrews pizza crew’s secret to success
Like athletes train for competition, the pizza making crew have long been training for the pizza games.
But there is no need to schedule in extra sessions for them, as they will regularly have about 40 pizzas on the board at the same time.
“At first it was a bit daunting, but we’re used to it now,” says Sean.
“The whole team gets involved to get orders out, so it brings everyone together.”
On the busiest nights, eight staff members are in the kitchen at the same time working to tight deadlines.
The biggest ever order the St Andrews store has made was 306 pizzas for freshers’ week.
With the students now back in town, there should be lots of practice for next year’s pizza games incoming.
Sarah says: “We plan on doing the competition again next year, hopefully we can get two teams down.
“The first one was a learning experience, but we’ve got an edge for next year now.
“We also found out that the winners get to go to Orlando for the international finals.
“I’m a huge Disney fan, so that’s motivation to do even better next time.”
What are Papa John’s pizza games?
The pizza delivery chain holds its pizza games every year, inviting stores from across the country to take part.
Here, teams are tested on their box folding, dough slapping and pizza topping skills in record breaking time.
In teams of two, pizza makers knock out 16 large pizzas – one topped with pepperoni – and fold up 50 boxes as fast as they can.
Though time is of the essence, teams will be penalised if they don’t use the correct methods or deviate from standards, such as making the pizzas too large.
In regional heats, teams are timed in their own stores and the fastest pair travel to the national competition. The UK-wide winners are invited to compete in the international finals in Orlando, Florida.
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