Subway latest entry on fast-food breakfast menu
The fast-food breakfast wars are heating up again, with Subway joining the fray.
It may take some convincing for fast-food patrons to think of Subway as anything but the place with the $5 foot-long sandwiches, as its advertising reminds. But the privately held chain of 25,000 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada is stepping even more directly into the fast-food slugfest, where established foes such as McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks compete for breakfast business.
This may not be an ideal time to launch an ambitious effort in pursuit of more consumer dollars, given the recession’s bite. Last year, breakfast sales at restaurants dropped 2.8% to $25.3 billion, with full-service restaurants taking the biggest hit, falling 6.7%, according to Mintel Foodservice, which provides restaurant industry analysis. Fast-food sales were up slightly, about 0.5%.
The key is a longer-term shift in eating habits. Last year, more than 55% of breakfast restaurant sales were at fast-food chains, Mintel said. Sales apparently crossed the 50% threshold around 2004, meaning that for the last six years the majority of people craving bacon and eggs who didn’t want to cook went to someplace such as McDonald’s.
So why not to Subway?
“If we can get our core customers to make just one extra visit per week for breakfast, then we’re in a good place,” said Tim Ryan, owner of a Subway in Illinois.
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