America’s Largest Sandwich Chain Is Losing Customers, and This Is Its Biggest, Fastest-Growing Rival (2024)
Last year, in an attempt to recapture some of its former popularity with customers, America's largest sandwich chain Subway announced a major menu overhaul. Ingredients were swapped for better quality versions, new signature subs were introduced to the menu, and a million of them were offered up to customers for free.
While this is undeniably a move in the right direction for a chain that has been struggling to stay relevant, the recovery may not be as significant as it first appears.
According to Restaurant Business, that growth pales in comparison to the average growth among other similar sandwich chains, which was about 21.5%. What's more, the company's market share has declined 10% since the start of the pandemic, according to data from Technomic's Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. More specifically, Subway's market share fell from 58% to 53% over the past two years. In other words, it's doing okay, but losing customers to its competitors.
And currently, its biggest rival seems to be Jersey Mike's Subs. What started as a small shop called Mike's Subs in Point Pleasant, N.J., has grown to become a powerhouse sandwich chain known for quality ingredients. The chain counts more than 2,000 locations around the country—with those stores reaching an average of about 20% EBITA margins across the business, according to Franchise 500. In fact, its sales are up by 65% over the past two years.
So what does Jersey Mike's have going for it? A lot, including a fan base so loyal that one fan even became a franchise owner.
Restaurant Business also notes that Jersey Mike's performance was in part due to its "early use of technology, a quick decision to jump enthusiastically on the third-party delivery bandwagon, and [the CEO's] eager willingness to go against franchisor convention by doing something so bold as to pay for franchisee remodels."
Then there's its commitment to giving back. For example, on March 30, all Jersey Mike's restaurants donated 100% of their sales—a record-breaking $20 million—to the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games.
"It created our biggest day of sales ever. Thank you to our customers, franchise owners, team members and Special Olympics family for making a difference!" said Caroline Jones, senior vice president of Jersey Mike's Franchise Systems. In 2021, the chain raised $3 million for Feeding America.
CEO Peter Cancro estimates the franchise will amount to 3,000 units within three years. "We're riding a wave," Cancro told Franchise 500. "No one ever knew about us. And the last two years, they do."
For Subway, Mike's is one to watch in the coming years.
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Melissa Fiorenza
Melissa Fiorenza has been writing for over a decade on a range of topics, including mental health, nutrition, fitness, parenting, and women's issues.Read more about Melissa
More specifically, Subway's market share fell from 58% to 53% over the past two years. In other words, it's doing okay, but losing customers to its competitors. And currently, its biggest rival seems to be Jersey Mike's Subs.
Subway is now officially the largest restaurant chain in the world. The company passed McDonald's in the United States in 2002 but it has now passed it worldwide. Subway had 33,749 restaurants worldwide at the end of last year, according to company reports, and McDonald's Corp. had 32,737.
Subway main competitors are Mr Goodcents Franchise Systems Inc, Panera Bread, and Chipotle Mexican Grill. Competitor Summary. See how Subway compares to its main competitors: KFC has the most employees (820,000).
From new menu offerings to fresh tech and more, here are some of the changes coming to your fast food faves in 2024. Fodor's, known for its travel guides since 1936, ranked the top 12 best fast-food chains in America, and Culver's came in at No. 1.
McDonald's is one of the largest and most well-known fast-food chains in the world. Privately-owned Burger King is McDonald's closest competitor. Yum Brands operates Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut.
Looking at the overall meal, the Subway meal in terms of protein and sugar was slightly healthier than McDonald's and provided more vegetables, however it was higher in sodium. Remember both meals contributed the same total number of calories but on top of that, it was a large amount of calories.
McDonald's and Subway are two of the world's largest international fast food restaurant chains. Each company possesses a strong brand and is an established name in the casual eating restaurant industry. With 40,953 locations worldwide, Subway beats out McDonald's as the largest global chain.
Quality services: The quality of service varies from store to store. The company strives to maintain uniform service quality across all of its locations, so service in one location may satisfy a consumer while someone else may not.
Subway operates 36,516 restaurants, a slight decline from 2022, according to Technomic. Both brands are looking up at McDonald's, which now operates 41,822 restaurants worldwide, making it the largest restaurant chain in the world based both on unit count and system sales.
Yes, Subway does actually have more locations than McDonald's. As hard as it may be to believe, Subway beat out McDonald's for the title of "world's largest restaurant chain" in 2011, notes CNN Money. In addition, Forbes reported that the eat fresh focused restaurant has over 43,000 locations across the globe.
McDonald's is the largest restaurant chain in the world, with 41,822 locations, about a third of which are in the U.S. The fast food chain saw sales of roughly $120 billion last year, according to FORTUNE.
As of 2022 McDonalds has more locations than Subway. One caveat: while Subway may boast lots of store locations that doesn't mean it's the largest or most profitable chain. It has so many locations partly because it is one of the lowest cost of the major franchises to buy into.
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