Pizza Patrón is seeking to reverse the average four percent drop in sales that it sees during Lent each year by launching its ‘Pizzas de Cuaresma’ campaign. The promotion features two ‘lent friendly’ pizzas — the Spinach Clásico (a customer favorite) and La Vegetariana.
Pizza Patrón’s Spinach Clásico pizza is a creamy blend of baby spinach and cheesy parmesan Alfredo sauce. La Vegetariana is a generously-topped vegetable pizza with fresh-sliced onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and ripe black olives made with crushed Roma tomato sauce marinated in Pizza Patrón’s secret blend of herbs and spices. Both specialty pies are large, family-sized pizzas made with fresh, hand-crafted dough shells and are only $6.99 each for a limited time during Cuaresma.
Lent, or “Cuaresma” in Spanish, refers to the season of the forty days and is the Christian observance involving fasting and abstinence for the 40-day period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. Today, most Catholics observe Lent, as well as members of many other Christian denominations.
“The majority of our guests are Hispanic and prefer to speak Spanish in our restaurants, and a significant number of those are Catholic,” said Andrew Gamm, brand director for Pizza Patrón. “Cuaresma is an important time of year for our brand because it gives us the opportunity to demonstrate what makes Pizza Patrón different from other pizza chains and it allows us to stay close to the heart of our heavily Catholic customer base.”
According to the 2009 National Survey of Latinos by the Pew Hispanic Center, a majority (60%) of Hispanics identify themselves as Catholic and two-thirds (67%) of Spanish-dominant young Latinos say they are Catholic.
Pizza Patrón has plans to build on the momentum gained during this promotion with three additional campaigns that reinforce the brand’s commitment to its Hispanic roots and honor the positive force of change immigrants bring to communities throughout America. The first campaign is slated for late April and will celebrate the language that unifies most Hispanics. The second campaign, scheduled for a July 4th launch, will honor the history of American immigration. The final campaign in October will promote community action and will feature Mexican pesos, putting a Latin twist on the company’s annual fundraising efforts for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“We are proud of our Latino roots and believe our brand stands for much more than low-price pizzas,” said Gamm. “Our passion is to create an experience at Pizza Patrón that exudes our unique Latin lifestyle and attitude.”
