Subway Is Abandoning Customized Sandwiches for Simpler Menus

Subway is launching its new Subway Sequence menu as a key departure from its historic “produce your very own” company product.

The new menu involves a checklist of 12 sandwiches that clients can get as is, which is the norm in most dining establishments but a large improve for Subway. They occur in 4 groups: Italianos, rooster, clubs, and cheesesteaks.

The sandwich chain grew popular for its tailored sandwiches made by staff suitable in front of shoppers, who could place to accurately which ingredients they wanted. “Consumers walk into a Subway with the expectation that they will customise their sandwich… It can be the foundation that Subway was created on and the way it’s been for 60 yrs,” Subway mentioned in a press launch announcing the new menu.

Now, Subway is repositioning the menu to be additional like other speedy-assistance places to eat, inquiring consumers to “belief their culinary experience, and trust in the sandwich artists to build a sandwich Subway thinks clients will enjoy,” the chain mentioned. 

The new sandwiches turned offered Tuesday, while shoppers can nonetheless make substitutions or produce their possess sandwiches. 

There are a number of probable reasons for the new menu. A standardized menu with less emphasis on customization has the potential to make operations more quickly for employees by reducing complexity. Assessments confirmed that the new menu “sped up functions” and led to less inquiries from consumers, Subway North The united states president Trevor Haynes instructed Insider at a push event.

More rapidly services could guide to greater income volumes and more earnings, Kalinowski Equity Associates president Mark Kalinowski explained to Insider. Subway has rather minimal unit sales in contrast with rivals like McDonald’s and Wendy’s, so the simplified menu could velocity up strains and likely lead to far more gross sales. Subway’s 2021 menu refresh bumped sales following a downward pattern and showed some hope for the chain, so another a lot more ambitious improve could be promising.

Producing a menu with pre-chosen selections could also drive buyers who do want to customize orders towards electronic orders. Digital orders carry on to develop throughout the field, and the structure is “good for customization,” Kalinowski famous. Electronic profits are beautiful to corporations many thanks to far better margins, speedier preparing, and reduce prices in keeping eating rooms, as clients ordinarily choose the foodstuff to go.  

Subway’s embrace of overall customization kick-started a trend that took around rapid food items, starting to be big with the increase of Chipotle and demonstrating up across the marketplace, from Sweetgreen to Cava. Chipotle in certain grew well known following a very similar assembly-line model where by prospects could point to elements and check out them become portion of a bowl or burrito. Now, it is embracing the opposing pattern in the industry: simplification, Kalinowski explained. 

It is a “intelligent move” that could guide to far better buyer activities and enhanced sales, Kalinowski informed Insider. Benefits in the future quarters will demonstrate if it is really ample to reverse Subway’s pattern of closing retailers and losing franchisees.

Are you a Subway employee with feelings on the new menu? Electronic mail this reporter at [email protected].