Pita Pit Dine Out, Not Kid Hungry Participation Recap

First, we would like to thank all of our fans for making our first year a part ofShare Our Strength's, Dine Out for No Kid Hungry campaign so successful!

We want to highlight some of our great moments from this year.

We had 62 Pita Pit locations participate. They each donated $0.50 for every fork style sold to Dine Out for No Kid Hungry, while also taking customer donations. To make this fun for everyone, we had a company-wide competition to see who could raise the most money for Dine Out for No Kid Hungry!

Our winner was Kristi Grob, owner of the Billings, MT Pita Pit! Kristi, her staff, and her amazing customers raised an impressive $1,505 in customer donation and $99 in salad sales, making her grand total $1,604 in donation to Share Our Strength!

The race between our stores was tight though! Second place went to Tom & Annette Cruse who raised a total of $1,473 from their Sioux Falls, SD store and third place went to Jim Talley who raised $1,088 from his Great Falls, MT store!

The amazing efforts between our participating stores and fantastic customers was recognized by Share Our Strength, who nominated Pita Pit for the prestigious "Rookie Of the Year" Award. The award is given out with many others at the Share Our Strength Conference of Leaders every year.

We had the fantastic opportunity to attend the Conference of Leaders held October 15-17th.

Though we unfortunately did not win the "Rookie of the Year" award, we are very proud of our company as we share the nomination with some very large brands including Chicago Metallic, Jimmy Dean and Williams-Sonoma.

Please enjoy these photos that were taken at the Conference of Leaders.

Conference of Leaders Award Dinner

Conference of Leaders Flash Mob

Chairman and CEO Billy Shore with Pita Pit employee Lisa Aitken & Billings store owner Kristi Grob

We had such a great time participating in Share Our Strength's Dine Outfor No Kid Hungry and can hardly wait to start again next year!

Help us end Childhood Hunger in America by 2015 and take the pledge: http://nokidhungry.org/

Pita Pit featured on QSR

Pita Pit secured a release in the QSR entitled "BBQ Pulled Pork Pita Rolls into Pita Pit." The release discusses our Limited time Pulled Pork Pita available at all locations.

BBQ Pulled Pork Pita Rolls into Pita Pit

On Oct. 3, Pita Pit launched its new Pulled Pork Pita. The pita is available at all locations, but for a limited time only. While the official end date of the BBQ Pulled Pork Pita limited-time offer is Nov. 13, stores may continue selling while supplies last. Pricing will vary by location.

(Read More)

Pita Pit featured in The Bryan Eagle

Pita Pit was recently featured in The Bryan Eagle entitled "Pita Pit execs hungry for another shot." The story features Pita Pit corporate store manager Marc Foglesong taking over two College Station locations and lends insight to his climb through the ranks of Pita Pit to enjoy success in the company. It also provides perspective from Pita Pit vice president of brand development on why College Station was worthy of a corporate takeover, as well as the company’s plans to add 10 new locations within the next two years.

Pita Pit execs hungry for another shot

By: Shauna Lewis

Pita Pit's corporate executives hope their recent takeover of the chain's two locations in College Station will be followed by 10 new eateries in the area in the next two years.

The Pita Pit in Northgate at 403 University Drive reopened Oct. 4, and company representatives expect the store on South Texas Avenue at Holleman Drive to reopen in early November. The eateries were shuttered in the summer after the former owner looked into selling them or closing and moving them.

But College Station is too good of an area to allow the eateries to stay closed, said Peter Riggs, vice president of brand development for Pita Pit USA.

"If it's a great location like in College Station, we take it over and keep it running," Riggs said.

(Read More)

Pita Pit Introduces It's New Pulled Pork Pita

On Monday, October 3rd, Pita Pit launched it's new Pulled Pork Pita! The pita is available at all locations but for a limited time only. The official end date is November 13th, but stores may continue selling while supplies last. Pricing will vary by location.

The Pulled Pork Pita is built off a generous portion of roasted pulled pork grilled in abundance of BBQ sauce. It will come topped with lettuce, onions, pickles and cheddar cheese, but, of course, our fans are able to choose the toppings that they want on their pita.

We are very excited about this addition and hope our fans are too! Let us know what you think and don't forget to make it a combo and SAVE!

Pita Pit featured on Tri-City Herald

Pita Pit was featured in an online article on Tri-City Herald on two separate days. The article is entitled , "Pita Pit in Pasco helping to battle child hunger." Pita Pit owner John Clapper discusses his locations participation's involvement with the Dine Out No Kid Hungry Campaign throughout the month of September. Throughout the entire month, the Pita Pit will donate $.50 of every fork style salad sold and for everyone who donates $1 to dine out, Pita Pit will match with another $1 off coupon for the next visit. Click here & here to view both articles.

Pita Pit in Pasco Helping to battle child hunger

By: Kristi Pihl

The Pasco Pita Pit is participating this month in a campaign to end child hunger in the U.S. by 2015.

Owner John Clapper decided to have his business help with the Dine Out No Kid Hungry campaign in September.

(Read More)

Pita Pit featured on blog VRG.org

Pita Pit was recently featured on The Vegetarian Resource Group Blog in an article entitled, "Pita Pit Restaurant Chain Offers All-Vegetable Menu Items." The article discusses our Garden Pita that can include a large variety of veggies and that you have the choice between a pita or a Fork-style. The article continues to describe the available vegetarian toppings options, the falafel & hummus, and the spicy black bean burger pita. Currently, Pita Pit's veggie pitas make up 10% of all pitas sold. Click here to read the full article.

Pita Pit Restaurant Chain Offers All-Vegetable Menu Items

By: Jeanne Yacoubou, MS, VRG Research Director

Vegetarians and vegans looking for, according to Pita Pit, “healthy food, not health food” may find it at Pita Pit. This quick service chain serving unconventional fare began in Canada in 1995. Pita Pit began United States franchising in 1999. Located throughout the US at over one hundred locations, Pita Pit offers white or wheat pita bread filled with several different all-vegetable items including hummus, falafel or a black bean patty. Pita Pit offers a Garden Pita made with your choice of a large variety of vegetables. Fork-style pita salads are also available. All pita dishes include choice of toppings, sauces, and a cheese for those who’d like one or more of them.

In June 2011, the VRG spoke with a senior staff member at the US Pita Pit corporate headquarters in Coeur d’Alene, ID who told us that currently their veggie pitas comprise approximately 10% of all pitas sold. The falafel and hummus are all-vegetable. Since May 2011, they have offered a spicy black bean burger pita without eggs in the patty. We were informed by Pita Pit that “It is a vegan product according to the box it comes in.” As of this writing, we have not yet heard from Pita Pit regarding the natural flavors in this product and in others thought suitable to vegans including the babaganoush (offered at http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.htmparticipating locations only) and the Teriyaki Sauce. There is no Ingredient Statement available on Pita Pit’s website.

(Read More)

twEAT OUT with Dine Out & Pita Pit!

Monday, September 19th is going to be a BIG day for Share Our Strength, Dine Out No Kid Hungry! The day is not only the second day of the Dine Out Week, it is also the day where Dine Out has their largest Tweet-A-Thon! According to blog "Be The Change", at last years twEAT OUT (as it is so creatively named), "over 1,000 people helped spread the word by posting 10,000 tweets about the campaign in just one week!" The efforts of these 1,000 individuals helped the "restaurant industry increase funds raised over prior year by 108%, raising $1.5 million dollars to help end childhood hunger in the United States."

This year, we want to have over 2,000 Bloggers, Tweeters and Facebookers to help promote Dine Out For No Kid Hungry! @PitaPitUSA will be tweeting all day Monday in hopes to get our fans involved in the twEAT OUT!

Here is how our followers can help:

To ensure that Dine Out For No Kid Hungry starts the week with a bang, Dine Out is holding a twEAT OUT all day on Monday, September 19. Join in the fun and help spread the word about Dine Out For No Kid Hungry on Twitter and Facebook!

When: Monday, September 19, 2011 | 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. EST

How to Participate:

On Twitter:

Follow @Dine_Out and @ShareStrength.
Retweet messages about the Dine Out For No Kid Hungry from these two accounts.
Use the hashtag #NoKidHungry in all your tweets
Share this tweet:
I’m dining out for #NoKidHungry this week. Join me by finding a participating restaurant in your area: http://ow.ly/2fhoI

On Facebook:
“Like” Share Our Strength

RSVP “YES!” to Dine Out For No Kid Hungry event on Facebook

Share news about Dine Out For No Kid Hungry with your Facebook friends:
I’m dining out this week for Share Our Strength’s Dine Out For No Kid Hungry. Join me by finding a participating restaurant near you! http://ow.ly/2fhoI

Other Sample Messages:

Feel free to share more messages on Facebook and Twitter. Use these verbatim or customize them yourself:

• @Dine_Out TODAY and help make #NoKidHungry in America! Here’s how: http://j.mp/aXxpIk
• There are over 5,000 restaurants participating in @Dine_Out for #NoKidHungry! Find one close 2 U! http://j.mp/aXxpIk
• Where will you be dining this week for @Dine_Out for #NoKidHungry? Pick a restaurant near you and let us know! http://j.mp/aXxpIk
• Now’s the time! @Dine_Out to ensure there is #NoKidHungry in America! Make your plans here: http://j.mp/aXxpIk

We are very excited to participate in this creative event and hope that all of our fans on Twitter will follow us and participate in the twEAT OUT!