Subway S Successes and Failures

¶ … Subway successful? Subway is a relatively low-cost restaurant that provides a consistent product across its wide range of franchises. It has a franchise-only system, further adding to the homogeneity of its product regardless of where the customer is dining. It offered many low-calorie, low-fat, and vegetarian items long before such items were fashionable, adding to its credibility in this area. Since virtually everyone eats sandwiches and salads, the franchise has a wide appeal. Sandwiches are made-to-order in front of the customer, further adding to its credibility of health and freshness.

Although it offers a standardized menu, it has been flexible enough to adapt it to the needs of international organizations. In 2011, Subway could boast that it had expanded into 98 countries with "one store for every 200,000 people in the world" (Smith, 2011, p.1). Subway opened in many non-traditional outlets such as Wal-Mart, capitalizing upon the lack of competition and the desire of customers to secure a quick snack while shopping. It had over 1,600 Walmart locations in 2011 (Smith, 2011, p.1). Other popular nontraditional outlets include venues in "hospitals, colleges, sports arenas, and airports" (Wong 2014).

Unlike some other fast food outlets, Subways can be operational in spaces as small as 300 feet (Wong 2014). Subway's quirky advertising for its $5 Footlongs stressed both the iconoclastic image of the brand as well as its low cost (Wong 2014). It has outpaced McDonald's in size and growth in many areas of the U.S. and the world (Wong 2014). Where have they had trouble? Subway's healthy eating campaign was initially founded upon the persona of Jared, who lost a tremendous amount of weight allegedly eating nothing but Subway sandwiches.

Unfortunately, Jared was also arrested for possession of child pornography and the fact he lost 245 lbs eating Subway was quickly eclipsed by his crimes (Hullinger 2015). Although Subway has been growing in number in terms of its outlets, McDonald's is still outselling the company. In 2012 it was reported "McDonald's 2012 system-wide sales were $35.6 billion. Subway, which is the second highest-grossing quick service chain, only raked in $12.1 billion in sales last year" ("McDonald's selling more," 2016).

The fact that McDonald's can make so many sales and has fewer stores and therefore fewer operating costs underlines its greater profitability. An outbreak of bacteria was reported in 2010 in Illinois. "An environmental investigation resulted in the finding that neither of the implicated Subway outlets had a written hand washing policy, and that employees were not required to document their knowledge of proper hand washing technique" (Marler 2010).

While obviously this would be an extremely damaging PR event for any fast food restaurant, given that so much of Subway's reputation was founded upon its healthiness, this was particularly devastating. A number of diet experts have questioned if Subway is truly a healthy alternative from the perspective of the diner. Subway's bread is highly processed, even its whole wheat varieties, as are its meats (Yun.