Subway seeks youth market

Subway has partnered with sneaker maker Vans to offer branded premiums and attract some younger consumers.

Subway Kids Paks will include either a Vans key chain, bracelet or sticker collection.

Speaking of Subway's Kids Pak, it is worth noting that that they offer a fruit snack and juice box in the Pak as an alternative to a cookie and soda. A welcomed and applauded healthy fast food alternative.

Subway also has a web site dedicated to their younger customers at www.subwaykids.com.

Jared writes a book

Jared Fogle, Subway spokesman has written a motivation memoir called, Jared the Subway Guy: Winning Through Losing; 13 Lessons for Turning Your Life Around.

from Publisher's Weekly:

Jared is one of the most recognizable advertising icons of the last decade, and one of the most successful—sales at Subway franchises skyrocketed after the debut of TV commercials describing how he lost nearly 250 pounds by eating two sandwiches a day. But while those ads focused on the feel-good angle of his accomplishment, Jared's memoir explores the frightening aspects of being at high risk for heart attack at the age of 20 and the frustration of all his previous failed attempts at dieting. He uses his experience as a framework to offer advice on achieving all sorts of personal transformations, from dieting to battling addiction.

Subway introduces Bourbon Chicken sandwich

Subway has introduced a new toasted sandwich via their Subway Dinner Theater website (a site 'hosted' by former SNL actor Jon Lovitz). The new sandwich is called the Bourbon Chicken Sandwich.

The Bourbon Chicken sandwich is a "fresh Toasted sandwich of all white meat chicken strips, glazed with a non-alcoholic, Bourbon Street-inspired sauce that perfectly complements the chicken, all topped by your favorite vegetables, and placed on your choice of freshly baked, gourmet breads."

Since Subway does publish nutrition data for their sandwiches (unlike Quizno's!), I'll share them here. The 258 gram 6" Bourbon Chicken has 350 calories, 45 calories from fat, 5 grams of fat 1.5 grams saturated fat, no trans fat, 50 mg cholesterol, 1020 mg sodium, 54 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 16 grams sugars, 25 grams protein.

Self-serve the new quick-serve?

Industry trends towards self-service at fast food restaurants may soon force the industry to reconsider the moniker 'quick-service restaurant' and replace it with 'self-service restaurant.' More and more plans are becoming apparent within the industry that seem to indicate this transition. We reported here on the self-service kiosk at a KFC/Taco Bell in North Carolina last month and on the introduction of the self-serv kiosks in November. Subway and Arby's have also experimented with self-service.

A National Restaurant Association representative said self-service "will lets consumers feel more in control because they're getting exactly what they ordered. Businesses can deploy the staff elsewhere and refocus on speeding up order delivery." But we're not really expected to believe that this trend won't cut into employment rolls are we? As for the consumer, I can see where it would be an improvement with regard to the reliability factor.

Counting Subways in Manhattan

Subway restaurants now outnumber subway stations in Manhattan. The 129 subway stations that took decades to build have been surpassed in quantity (131) in a much shorter time (since 1990 to be precise).

Subway restaurants the world over feature images of the original NY IRT construction as part of the restaurants' decoration.

With 468 subway stations in all of New York, the restaurant has a way to go to beat the train citywide.

[NY Post]

Quiznos introduces bread bowls

As I've said before, Quiznos is reticent to reveal their foods' nutrition data and with the introduction of soup-filled bread bowls we might be able to see why! As to the bread bowls, I can't beat this copy from USA Today:
If there's one sign in 2006 that the low-carb fad is officially dead, it might be this: The bread bowl is about to make a comeback.

Quiznos Sub, the trendy sandwich chain best known for its toasted subs, this week will introduce nationally three varieties of Toasted Gourmet Bread Bowls. They can be had not only with soup or chili, but also stuffed with rings of toasted cheese and chunks of roast chicken or beef.

Bread is something "that anyone on Atkins avoids like the plague," says Sherri Daye Scott, editor of QSR, a fast-food industry trade publication. "It must be the end of low-carb."

And, perhaps, the start of a who'd-a-thunk-it fast-food trend. Quiznos says it's the first national fast-food chain to sell bread bowls. The move is an attempt to inch closer to more upscale Panera Bread, the "fast-casual" chain that says it sells one in five soup orders in a bread bowl. It also might help Quiznos distinguish itself from Subway, which now sells hot subs.

Subway's new resolution

Subway is kicking off a new promotion called "Fresh Resolutions" on January 2. On their countdown site, Subway spokesman Jared describes the promotion as a way to help you achieve a "healthier lifestyle" for a "healthy new you" in the new year. He also mentions a 'fresh resolutions hot-line;' could this be a dieting helpline?

Subway will introduce an instant win scratch-off game as part of "Fresh Resolutions" with prizes including pool tables, elliptical trainers, bicycles, camcorders, snowboards, video iPods, and gift certificates for iTunes, Blockbuster and sporting goods.

Each entrant will receive a two week Bally Total Fitness guest membership. You could also win a month of daily motivational phone calls from Jared himself! No offense Jared, but I hope they offer an alternate prize for that one!

Fast food's 'holiday' references

The controversy over "Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas" seems to have really heated up this year. I actually got invited to a "I'll call it a Christmas Party if I Want To" party! thrown by someone who said they're sick of all the "religious correctness." Many people are being careful not to offend; many of the 'Christmas' cards I got this year did not mention Christmas at all. And of course there's been boycotts against many retailers who've been accused by Christian groups of not including specific Christmas references in their stores, websites, and holiday marketing.

With this in mind, I decided to take a look at some fast food restaurants' web sites today, with Christmas only a day and a half away, and see what sort of 'holiday' references I might find.

The following sites had no mention of the holiday season whatsoever: Burger King, Carls Jr., Chick-fil-a, Church's Chicken, Del Taco, In-N-Out, KFC, Long John Silver's, McDonald's, Panera, and Taco Bell.

One thing about that list really surprised me. I was surprised that Chick-fil-a didn't have a "Merry Christmas" on their site, since they promote themselves as a Christian company every week by keeping their restaurants closed on Sunday.

I didn't see Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanza mentioned specifically anywhere, but here are some holiday references I did find:

• Dairy Queen is promoting a "Merry Mint Chip Blizzard" on their site, but doesn't mention Christmas or the holiday season specifically.
• Hardee's had a "Big Holiday Rockin' Good Promo" (an LCD TV giveaway) on their site two days ago, but interestingly, today (12/23), it is just called the "Rockin' Good Promo." Hmm.
• Jack in the Box has special Holiday Antenna Balls.
• Sonic Drive-Ins has a Holiday Scratch & Win Game and a Gingerbread Blast (aka a gingerbread shake).
• Subway has a special section on "Surviving the Holiday Hunger" written by their staff dietician.
• Wendy's homepage promotes and links to some holiday related topics at the Dave Thomas Foundation including a Hallmark Adoption Ornament and a television special that aired Wednesday (12/21) on CBS.

Subway sorry for any offense to Kansas

Joe and Karen Davis stopped in for a bite at a Subway in Reedsport, Oregon back in October. They apparently had no complaints about the food, but a sign in the window announcing a salmon sandwich apparently did.

The sign read: "Another reason you're lucky not to live in Kansas."

You see, Joe and Karen are from Topeka, Kansas. They complained to Subway, and today Subway apologized to anyone in Kansas who might have gone abroad, seen the sign, and been offended.

"We are fortunate to have friends in the franchisees we have in Kansas and would not do anything to offend them," their statement said.

The sign has been pulled from all Subway locations serving the salmon sandwich. (Kansas, by the way, was not one of them.) [AP]

Some Kansas Subway franchisees are also complaining that the marketing gaff is costing them money. [KC Star]

Fast food coffee upgrades

The Starbucks induced coffee craze being what it is, I'm surprised fast food restaurants didn't respond a long time ago, but the upgrade to better fast food coffee is fairly recent.

The most recent is Burger King with last week's introduction of BK Joe — brewed 100% from premium arabica beans. Sold in decaf, regular and "turbo strength" (extra caffeine), the coffee will be in all of Burger King's more than 7,000 U.S. stores by the end of November.

Other coffee upgrades:

• McDonald's tested a premium roast and plans a national rollout soon.
• Chick-fil-A added a Cafe Blends line this summer.
• Subway is trying gourmet java in some stores to lure morning traffic.

Sandwich Wars: Quiznos vs. Subway

Consumers are noticing what restaurant industry analysts have seen for years. By making toasted sandwiches a hot item, Denver-based Quiznos has become the fastest-growing restaurant chain in the country, trailing only Subway as the nation's No. 2 sandwich shop – not counting hamburgers.

After the upstart in the sandwich market hit the $1 billion sales mark last year, Subway took notice and launched is own brand of toasted sandwiches.

But industry analysts say Subway and Quiznos are locked in an unusual competition. Like McDonald's and Burger King, they compete for the same market. But the sandwich purveyors also share a common goal: luring customers away from the burger joints.

[more from the AP]

Australia's fast food growth

According to a BIS Schrapnel report, the number of fast food restaurants in Australia has grown by 25% in the last 4 years. The 123.2 per cent growth in new Subway outlets compared with 2.1 per cent growth for McDonald's showed consumers were voting with their waistlines, the report's co-author Jan Roach said. But in terms of sales turnover, McDonald's still leads the way, followed by KFC. [Herald Sun | The Age]

Subway drops Sub Club promotion

Counterfeiters have brought the free sub promotion, that Subway has had since the 80's, to an end. Sub Club cards with eight stamps (from previous sub purchases) were redeemable for a free sub. But now that an abundance of counterfeit cards have been surfacing, Subway has decided to cancel the promotion. [Newsday]

Farmworkers seek fast food changes

After a 4 year boycott, a farmworkers group has convinced Taco Bell to agree to a penny-a-pound increase on tomatoes and a code of conduct that will help to penalize suppliers that abuse workers. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, mostly Guatemalan or Mexican, is the group responsible for the concession. They hope to convince the rest of the fast food industry to follow suit. They have sent letters to McDonald's, Subway and Burger King executives. [CIW News & AP]

Subway aims for teens

Subway restaurants has hired Alloy Marketing to help them develop an advertising strategy that will attract teens to the chain's 23,269 restaurants. Subway has until now focused primarily on the 18-40 year old market. The new promotional campaign is expected to begin later this year. --CT Post