Subway Loses Focus on Quality with New Breakfast Sandwich
Culinary innovation is an incredible force in many restaurants. Unfortunately, it's not always a force for good.
Who would have ever thought pre-prepared frozen eggs, thawed and reheated, would be a dish any restaurant or fast food operation could not only promote but would be proud of.
Yesterday, I took advantage of the complimentary egg sandwich Subway Sandwiches had promoted for the past week. In a publicity advertising blitz announcing the chain's entry into the breakfast-world wars, Subway decided to offer the free creation from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
I have never been a fan of breakfast sandwiches in restaurants without a hood system. That's a sure sign that the operation is preparing eggs in a less than conventional way. Subway, however, has taken unconventional to a new level.
When I opened the door to Subway, the aroma of Italian subs wafted about. The coffee station was set up in a booth complete with a table cloth, paper cups, and help-yourself air pots.
The disappointment started early.
The sandwich preparation was Subway style. English muffin, cheese, egg triangle, a piece of ham, and the ultimate question, "Any vegetables?", and then it was placed in the convection oven.
Opting for a sandwich sans vegetables, I thanked the sandwich creator—I don't believe Subway has come up with a name for their counter employees yet—and chuckled at the printed sandwich pouch he placed it in. For some reason the tag line "Eat Fresh" just didn't seem that appropriate.
I couldn't eat the sandwich. I gave it to a Starbuck's barista to try. Her comments are in the vault.
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The point here is simple: I learned the lesson early on in my culinary trek to build a restaurant empire. I was rapidly losing money in my first venture, The Crocus Hill Market, and although I had a meat department, fabulously fresh produce, grocery delivery, and a phone-ordering service, I decided to take the last $5,000 Kranston and I had and remodel one side of the store into a coffee cafe. To attempt this in the '90s was unheard of. I was behind the eight ball and ahead of the times. Caribou Coffee had yet to launch and Starbucks Coffee was just a little Seattle-based coffee company that few in St. Paul had ever heard of.
We installed antique booths that would make Ralph Lauren's eyes glimmer. A general store counter made from antique oak was refinished and elevated to work as a coffee bar. The entire room would have made Martha Stewart proud. But at the time I had no clue as to what to do with a coffee cafe. The meat counter was offering hot dogs for lunch on Mondays and meatloaf specials on Wednesdays. We were selling sweet rolls and coffee through a doorway. I attempted to be all things to all people. My concept lost the focus on quality. I ended up losing the investment, closing down the 100-year-old store I had purchased, and learning a costly lesson. Kranston and I refocused, plotted a more profitable course, and eventually did find our culinary footing.
In the case of Subway, entering the breakfast wars is tragic for the chain. The product they are offering wouldn't be bad if they could just get rid of the eggs. But of course if they did that, they would just be a sandwich shop selling subs for lunch, dinner, and late-night snacks. And who would want that success?
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