Subway sandwiches outgrow McDonalds

Bates, D. (2011, Mar 09). Subway sandwiches outgrow McDonalds. Daily Mail, pp. 11. http://search.proquest.com/docview/855888428?accountid=14608

SANDWICH chain Subway has knocked McDonald's from its perch as the fast-food king, by having more restaurants in Britain and around the world.

By the end of last year Subway had 33,749 outlets globally compared with the burger giant's 33,737, according to industry figures.

The sandwich chain has just opened its first store in Vietnam. Its other outlets include one on a riverboat in Germany, at bowling alleys and even at a church in Buffalo in the U.S. Britain is following the trend. Subway has become a feature of the high street, and has more than 1,500 outlets across the country compared with 1,197 forMcDonald's.

Subway's success is attributed to its willingness to open stores in unusual places and its late opening hours, turning the restaurants into what experts say are basically kebab shop-style outlets for drunken pubgoers.

It is thought consumers are also turning away from junk food and towards what they perceive to be a healthier alternative.

Unlike McDonald's, whose Big Mac contains 30g of fat, Subway boasts a range of 6in made-to-order filled rolls containing as much as five times less.

Although none of these contain the cheese and sauces which are routinely added by customers, the chain's reputation as health food has stuck.

The company was founded with $1,000 in 1965 by teenage American entrepreneur Fred DeLuca in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

It launched in the UK in Brighton in 1996 and grew slowly at first, as its concept took time to catch on. But by 2005 Subway's franchisees had a total of 300 British stores, partly thanks to clever financing plans which enable them to sign up and fit out their stores relatively cheaply.

It has faced criticism however for allowing its restaurants to open until late at night and for offering caloriepacked sandwiches and fattier snacks such as cheese toasties.

The turnaround will be a blow to McDonald's, which opened its first U.S. store in 1940. In recent years it has introduced 'healthier' options such as salads to the menu in an attempt to lure new customers.

While the figures show that Subway has more stores, it is still nowhere near as profitable as McDonald's, which generated Pounds 15billion revenue last year, compared with Subway's Pounds 9billion.

In a statement the sandwich chain said its success was down to it being 'on a great run'. Spokesman Les Winograd said: 'It's a feeling of accomplishment, for sure, but we didn't set out to surpass anyone in particular.'