How Accepting EBT Is A Benefit for Franchisees

Director of Franchise Development Speaks about the Benefits of Accepting EBT in Franchise Stores

Everyone loves a good slice of pizza, but how can a unique pizza franchise like Papa Murphy’s stand out from a crowded marketplace while also connecting deeper with the communities they serve? In this interview with Papa Murphy’s Senior Director of Franchise Development, Shemar Pucel, we learn more about how accepting EBT payments in franchise stores not only helps franchisees connect and serve all of their community, but how this program underlines the focus of the overall company culture of the Papa Murphy’s brand.

Can you explain what EBT/SNAP means?

Pucel: EBT and SNAP is the government’s program for assisting with supplemental nutrition. SNAP stands for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and applicants get an EBT card, which looks just like a debit card. The program is meant for lower income households to be able to buy nutritional items for their family. So

For a lot of people using the program, they’re stuck with grocery stores, and every now and then convenience stores, but there aren’t really any restaurants included because they’re considered to be sort of a luxury item. With Papa Murphy’s, because we don’t cook any food, we’re technically a gourmet or specialty grocery, which gives our stores the opportunity to cater to an underserved community in a really impactful way.

How can Papa Murphy’s franchises accept EBT?

Pucel: There are certain rules or regulations that the federal government dictates for families to be able to utilize these benefits. They want every option to meet nutritional standards. Additionally, the product needs to be unprepared food, or something they can bring home and prepare for themselves. Those are the two key requirements.

Food franchises like Burger King, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, even Papa John’s and Domino’s, their nutrition guidelines are different than ours. Because their food is prepared and under different standards, it’s something the government doesn’t necessarily want to promote as a healthy living choice, so they can’t adhere or join in this venture.

There is a detailed process to work through for being accepted into the SNAP program. We have to showcase our nutritional standards and show on a continual basis that our business model hasn’t changed. Since 80-90% of our products leave our store raw, our business model allows us to be able to pass the application process with the federal government, so we can accept EBT payments. That’s probably one of the main reasons we’ll always be a take and bake concept.

How does this program help Papa Murphy’s stand out?

Pucel: Everyone knows we sell pizza, but because we follow the government’s strict guidelines of nutrition required by SNAP, this means we have a clean label, down to the ingredients we use as toppings. There’s a certain amount of quality and freshness that you can hide when you serve a cooked product versus when you serve it raw. But more importantly, with the added benefit of our franchises having the opportunity to accept EBT payments, we can cater to all social and economic classes, without feeling the pain of the economy the same way some of our competitors do. Having the ability to serve an underserved part of our community will help ensure that we’re always at the top of mind for people to enjoy great quality food with their family.

How does this program help franchisees connect with their community?

Pucel: Having the opportunity to accept EBT payments means our franchisees are not limiting the community members that they can serve. For a lot of families, affording a $30 pizza from a competitor is way outside of their budget, when every penny is already spent when their paycheck hits their bank account. We offer the ability to celebrate after school or after soccer and come together and break bread, because pizza is meant to be shared.

I think it’s really a key part of our company culture. A lot of our franchise owners work with schools to do nutritional programs, especially in the summer when kids don’t have access to school lunch. There’s so many ways that we can continue to support families and connect with our communities regardless of their background, and that’s really important to Papa Murphy’s.

Speaking of culture, what does this program say about the culture of Papa Murphy’s?

Pucel: Papa Murphy’s is big on family. We view ourselves as a franchise family and support our franchise owners through all the different phases of our franchisee lifestyle. We also do the same for our corporate employees, and that is reflected in the store level too. We do lots of different scholarship programs for our franchise owners and their employees, as well as our staff members. At the end of the day, we look out for each other.

Over the past few years, we have really focused on our culture, defining our goals and aspirations, striving to be inclusive, diverse, and warm. At the end of the day, if we’re all not working together for the collective good of the brand to propel it forward, it can really become a toxic relationship. So ensuring that we’re all on the same page, that our vision and values are aligned, has been crucial to our growth at all levels.

Making the extra effort to be able to offer a nutritional product to every family is a reflection of our culture. Not only do we want our company culture to be inclusive, diverse, and warm, but we want that to echo in all of our stores and communities too.

Do you see this program working well in local stores?

Pucel: Oddly enough, I was sitting next to somebody on the plane, and he saw the Papa Murphy’s logo on my laptop and asked if I worked for them. When I told him yes, he started to cry. This kid may have been maybe 18, and it was just the sweetest thing. He told me his story about how he was in foster care, and how special it was for him when his mom could buy a pizza from Papa Murphy’s using EBT. It was a huge and special part of his childhood. I gave him some gift cards because I always have them on me, but later I got an email from him, again, just thanking me so much for what Papa Murphy’s meant to him. Now he works for the social services department, and tells them all about the great things that Papa Murphy’s can do for low-income families. So that was a sign to me that we are making the right choices as a company as far as growth, and really helping our communities.

Learn More about Franchising with Papa Murphy’s

If you’re interested in learning more about how you can help your community with a Papa Murphy’s pizza franchise, we invite you to visit our research pages here, where you can learn more about our business model, the cost to franchise, and how we support our franchise owners.

To start a conversation with Shemar Pucel and the Papa Murphy’s franchise team about what it takes to become a franchise owner, fill out our form here. We look forward to hearing from you!