NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Papa John's International has made a lot of dough from online ordering _ more than $1 billion to be precise.

The pizza chain said Wednesday that its online sales are growing on average more than 50 percent each year and neared $400 million in 2007 alone.

The Louisville-based company was at the forefront of online pizza ordering in 2001.

Now, more than 20 percent of all Papa John's sales come online or through text messaging. The company says it expects online, text and other alternative methods to someday surpass telephone orders.

Papa John's vice president Jim Ensign says it took the company seven years to reach its first $1 billion in online sales. At the current growth rate, he says it will take less than three years for the company to reach its next $1 billion.