Subway wants your breakfast business
Filed under: Food
In our homeland of the obese, the lunch and dinner business is saturated, so fast food retailers are looking to the breakfast market to make better use of their retail locations.I wonder, however, about the prospects of Subway as it attempts to grow its share of that market. Where are the ads, I wonder, for $5 foot-long omelets?
Breakfast is a fickle market. Wendy's, the third largest burger chain in the country, recently crapped out in its second foray into this market.
Subway, according to Advertising Age, is jousting with already established breakfast retailers such as McDonald's, and others attempting to redefine themselves with wider a.m. menu selections (Dunkin' Donuts.)
Subway's limited breakfast offerings include a breakfast sandwich with various meat, cheese and egg combinations, as well as cinnamon rolls, juice and coffee. The chain recently announced the switch to brand-name coffee, Seattle's Best, in 9,000 locations to beef up its breakfast trade.
From my perspective, Subway has several major hurdles that will be hard to overcome. First, they don't typically have drive-through service, which is so popular during breakfast hours. (Who gets up early enough to go inside for a leisurely breakfast? I suspect most Egg McMuffins are consumed on the freeway during the drive to work, in between checking e-mail and applying makeup.)
Many Subway locations are in strip malls in which few if any other stores are open, and therefore easily overlooked by sleepy drivers. Lastly, as McDonald's and others are busily rolling out dollar-menu items, Subway's typical price point, at the high end of the fast food spectrum, seems pricey by comparison.
Have you tried a Subway breakfast? What was your impression; does it compare favorably to the competition?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
11-11-2009 @ 9:24PM
charlena said...
subway breakfast is really good the new english muffins are more flavorful then mcdonalds and more healthy for you cause they use the white egg and even if u perfer yellow egg they have that as well the coffee is always fresh i am quite satisfied with it and do recomend everyone to give it a taste
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11-13-2009 @ 9:04AM
Chris said...
Why go out and eat this mediocre pre-processed food... or should i say crap!... I just got into cooking.. my gf bought me this hilarious beginners cookbook called "Get in the Kitchen, BIT@HES!" (bitchcooks.com).. besides being hilarious.. really has some great starter recipes and food I never thought I could make myself.. check out the free recipes on the site... youll see.. plus.. i get the added bonus of my gf telling me to "get in the kitchen, Bit@H!".. have to say that's pretty hot...lol
11-13-2009 @ 5:49PM
hookmrl said...
5 dollar omelet,dam a dozen eggs is a buck and bread a loaf for 2 bucks
11-14-2009 @ 1:11AM
ZaXXoN said...
more flavorful THAN, not more flavorful THEN.
THAN not THEN. its a comparison, not a time issue.
11-13-2009 @ 7:56AM
Bear said...
scrippitti i really pity you. just because Subway makes more more money than your real "resturamts" doesnt mean you have to blog everybody down....now get back behind your grill in that greasy spoon of yours and dont come out until you make a name for yourself...dork
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11-13-2009 @ 8:31AM
colcam said...
Beth is just a shill, selling spam for commission. What bothers me about the story is that it is just as much a spam item-- a chain that shows a great item in the ads, then serves a small fraction of that when you pay for it. Why would I buy from a company that has already proven it will lie about serving size, then blame it on franchise problems or trainees?
Is this really "news" of "interest" to the general public, or just a way of making adverts look less like something to flip past?
.
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11-13-2009 @ 8:51AM
Dave said...
Well now......it just never works...people are gonna eat breakfast at a breakfast place.mickeys Ds is the only one in the fast food biz that gets a breakfast crowd. and thats only because thay have done it for years now.to me people go to a place for what its for..like KFC or popeyes for chicken.taco bell for mexican food and subway and the like for a sandwich and so on.i mean are you gonna go to a sub shop and want seafood? i think not(unless you dont have taste)so when a sandwich shop starts trying to sell you on breakfast its not you or your taste buds they have in mind its thier bottom line.if a place makes a good and tasty product thats what they should stay with .and do it better than the next guy.so as far as breakfast at subway?...i bet it dont last long.next they will be trying to sell you a pair of shoes and a sandwich.
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11-13-2009 @ 11:29AM
joe7871 said...
Subway breakfasts' are very good. i love the flatbread western omelette with bananna peppers. I used to go to jack in the Box but for @ $1.50 more I get a much better breakfast customized - not standardized. I cannot understand how abybody can eat those McD's death disc McMuffins. When first rolled out they seemed larger and fesher. Now : Ugh!
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11-13-2009 @ 9:19AM
Jason said...
I am a huge Subway fan, but when I saw they were beginning to serve breakfast, it even made me question whether or not it would work, and whether the food would taste good or not. I have tried it once though (months ago - I rarely eat breakfast), and I got a sausage, egg, and cheese flatbread. The sandwich tasted great and quite honestly, the price point (as questioned before) is right in line with other chains, or better during the promotional phase. Subway is selling a sandwich and cofee for $1.99. Not bad... The only thing I did notice was that the flatbread sandwich didn't retain heat as well as a regular sandwich on a muffin or w/e you choose. Otherwise, I couldn't complain and I will likely try Subway again as their menu continues to expand.
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11-13-2009 @ 9:32AM
Ellen said...
I love Subway because I can pick out exactly what I want on my sandwich. I don't mind paying more for extra toppings that I want and love. It's really hard to find a real Italian sub or hoagie in this part of Maryland where I live. The don't have a Capriotti's sub shop in this area, (which by the way, is the best), so I am able to make up my own Italian sub at Subway and it runs a very close tie to the best. I haven't tried the breakfast menu out yet though. I wonder what their breakfast hours are? Mickey D's is great, but they stop making breakfast after 10:00-10:30, and start on lunch. I usually make my own breakfast because I eat later in the morning. Sometimes I like breakfast for lunch, or should I say brunch.
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11-13-2009 @ 11:16AM
Loraine said...
Ellen,
I love Italian subs too. Can you tell me how you make yours at Subway? What ingredients?
11-13-2009 @ 9:49AM
Robert said...
Excellent breakfast option. I love the flatbread with white egg and steak. The cost is reasonable, the calories are moderate, and the stomach feels satisfied for hours. Really a good breakfast option versus sitting in a restaurant or the very high empty calories of McDonalds--which I partake once in awhile.
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11-13-2009 @ 9:52AM
ruthsgardens said...
What ticks me off about McDonalds here is you can only buy breakfast in the morning hours.You can't get burgers or anything else.Nor burger king either.But you can at Subway,Arbys and White Castle.Subways bacon,egg and cheese on a croisant is great but expensive.White castle only puts one fried egg on toast.Got to have two.Everything at Arbys is expensive period.Mickey D's big breakfast gives you a different amount of scrambled eggs everytime depending on the cook.One egg doesn't cut it for me.And their egg mcmuffins puzzle me.Why in the hell is their ham so chewy? What part of the pig does that come from? Subway opens up to late.Most people are at work already.And Churches chicken could sell a hell of a lot more if they had a drive through.Taco bell needs to sell french fries.They need to come up with a homemade taco sauce and not that crap salsa in a package.And toast a tortilla instead of steam ones. Geesh.Okay, I am done ranting.
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11-13-2009 @ 6:48PM
Rheana said...
Maybe you should consider eating at home every once in a while. Anyone with this much knowlege about or who cares this much about fast food CANNOT be very healthy...just sayin'
11-14-2009 @ 1:51PM
Momoftrips said...
I agree with you. Tacobell needs to sell French Fries! I've been saying that for years. They would do themselves a favor if they did!
11-13-2009 @ 11:47AM
Addison said...
Subway has been testing breakfast for over 18 months near where I live. The food was good an reasonably priced. The biggest problem was that they didn't open until 8 a.m. so it was difficult to get breakfast before work on most days. Overall, I would say that it is a welcome addition to the fast food breakfast lineups.
As for those who take exception to Subway's business model (and therefore ingrediants, ambiance, location and quality), I would suggest that they are there to accept or reject based on personal preference and no one really cares about your subjective opinion. Got something to say that doesn't involve an adverb or unqualified terms like "worst", we welcome your information. Its your opinion that cheapens the value of these posts.
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11-14-2009 @ 3:09AM
Bob said...
18 months in your area? That, too, is a long time. I drive by about 3 or 4 Subway's everyday (they are everywhere) and they have been serving breakfast for, at the least, 3 years now. I'm sure it has been longer. I can't comment on the food, the last time I was there was for the $5 concert tickets, I gave the sub to a friend.
It shocks me that this is a story now because I've seen Subway selling breakfast for years already. Maybe we were in the test markets?
11-13-2009 @ 10:08AM
Dave Hall said...
I gave up on Subway a long time ago. Because, I went into a Subway shop after 11am and ordered coffee with my sandwich. The clerk said they had no coffee. I could see that they had coffee and plenty of it. When challenged, the clerk pointed to a sign that said, "No coffee after 11am". When I pointed out that the coffee would be wasted, and I was willing to pay for it, he said company policy did not permit it. That is a pretty silly policy that turns away a paying customer. I did complain to corporate and got a nice email of apology and a promise of a coupon for a free Sub sandwich. That was three years ago. I am still waiting for the coupon and Subway is still waiting for my return. Fat chance.
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11-13-2009 @ 4:09PM
melwal said...
No one cares! You are judging an entire chain off of one incident.
11-13-2009 @ 10:16AM
John said...
Subway has been serving Breakfast subs for years. I have breakfast at Subway 2-3 times a week. I love them.
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