Muldoon estimates that about 25% of the pepperoncinis that come out of Turkey end up at one of Papa John’s 5,000+ stores, across the States and around the globe in cities like Moscow and Beijing -- where one can only assume Peyton Manning shills in Mandarin.

The chain burns through so many peppers, that at one point the demand outgrew its Turkish suppliers' reach. According to Muldoon, Papa John’s rapid expansion in the late '90s -- when the restaurant quickly grew from a couple hundred locations to almost 1,500 in just a few years -- resulted in one of the biggest pepperoncini shortages of all time, with its Turkish growers struggling to keep pace with the Papa.

“It was actually a worldwide pepperoncini shortage, and it was our fault,” Muldoon said.

So, if you had pepperoncini withdrawals in the late '90s while listening to your favorite Limp Bizkit CD and wearing your JNCO jeans, blame Papa John’s.