Product Profile: Subway

 

INDUSTRY

food

Category

chain restaurants

product Profiled

Subway restaurants

 

H-Score

 

48

ranked 9th of 25 within the food industry

ranked 38th of 76 overall

 

product description

 

Subway is a chain of fast food restaurants with over 21,000 outlets across the US.(1) It serves meals throughout the day and evening, offering consistent menus throughout the US. Subways serve submarine sandwiches, wraps, chips, soft drinks and other food items. Subway emphasizes fresh food and “better-for-you” options in their marketing.(2)

 

product use

 

Customers can purchase food by ordering at the counter, at a drive-thru window (where available), or via a website or app. Customers can also have Subway’s food delivered. Customers can eat inside the restaurants or take their meals away.

 

who’s affected

 

Subway’s target market includes the general population. Subway restaurants can be found in a variety of communities with menu prices accessible to individuals of all household income levels.

 
 

influence on health-related behaviors

 

EATING

slight negative influence

 

Subway serves fast food sandwiches, which, broadly speaking, can be unhealthy. Researchers have found 70% of meals served at fast food restaurants (not specific to Subway) to be of poor nutritional quality.(3)

In Building H’s analysis, Subway was found to have a modified Restaurant Nutrition Quality (RNQ)(4,5) score of 0.90. Of the 11 chain restaurants in the Index, the range of modified RNQ scores was 1.65 (best) to 0.50 (worst). Subway’s score placed it 3rd highest of the 11 restaurant chains we profiled. In addition, in a 2021 study that calculated the RNQ for over 500 chain restaurants, Subway’s RNQ placed it in the 76th percentile (higher is better).

In terms of calories, a sample of featured breakfast meal combos averaged 1,476 calories, representing 4.3 times the recommended calories for women at breakfast and 3.3 times the recommended calories for men at breakfast.(6) For their standard menu, featured meal combos averaged 1,248 calories, or 2.2 times the recommended calories for women at lunch, 1.7 times the recommended calories for men at lunch, 1.9 times the recommended calories for women at dinner, and 1.4 times the recommended calories for men at dinner. Approximately 15-25% percent of Subway’s sales take place during the breakfast hours, 45-55% percent during lunch hours and 25-35% percent during dinner hours.(7)

Subway does not feature or facilitate the choice of its healthier items in its online menus. The most prominent items are those for which Subway is most well-known, such as hot or cold submarine sandwiches. Healthier items, such as wraps, salads and protein bowls are available but not heavily featured.


Subway promotes additional consumption through the use of cross-selling in the ordering and checkout processes. Subs come in three sizes: 6”, footlong, and “footlong pro,” with orders defaulting to footlong. Customers are prompted to turn their subs into meals, offering chips (or cookies) and a drink. Before a customer finishes checking out, Subway prompts them to add additional items.(8)

 

opportunities:

  • Feature healthier items more prominently in menu presentation and in recommendations.
  • Highlight healthy modifications or substitutions whenever possible.
  • Set default options of customizable meals to the healthiest options available.
  • Offer reduced portion size options.
  • Enable users to set preferences for calorie limits and/or how healthy they want their diets to be and then tailor their ordering experience and recommendations accordingly.
  • Do not recommend additional items after users pass a reasonable calories per person level.
 
 

PHYSICAL ACTVITY

neutral to slight positive influence

 

One way in which restaurants contribute to physical activity is how people arrive at them. Restaurants in walkable locations are more likely to get customers to walk or bike to them than restaurants located in car-dependent neighborhoods. Building H reviewed a sample of Subway locations and found that 52% were in either “most walkable” (20%) or “above-average walkable” (32%) neighborhoods. Forty-eight (48) were in “below-average walkable” (46%) or “least walkable” (2%) neighborhoods, using the US EPA’s National Walkability Index.(9)

An additional factor that affects physical activity is the presence of drive-thru windows, which enable customers to pick up meals without ever leaving their cars. However, only approximately 10% of the Subway locations Building H reviewed had drive-thru service available.(10)

 

opportunities:

  • Consider neighborhood walkability and bikeability when selecting new locations.
 
 

Sleeping

neutral to slight positive influence

 

Studies have shown that eating within three hours before bedtime increases the likelihood of sleep disruption.(11)

Subway locations typically close between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm. Based on Google data about a sample of locations, less than 5% of Subway’s activity takes place after 9:00 pm.(12)

Note that late night eating does not necessarily result in eating shortly before bedtime or extending into people’s sleep windows as there is diversity in daily schedules (due to reasons such as shift work).

opportunities:

  • Discourage ordering of caffeinated drinks in the evening.
 
 

Engaging Socially

neutral influence

 

Eating in a restaurant can be a social experience, especially when one eats with family or friends. It is not clear how many of Subway’s customers eat in the restaurant in groups or take food out for groups.

A Building H analysis of Google data on a sample of Subway locations shows that the typical amount of time spent at Subway is between 10 and 15 minutes,(13) which suggests that most customers are not staying to eat in the restaurant.

Drive-thru service and delivery service would typically involve less social interaction. Building H reviewed a sample of Subway locations and found that only approximately 10% offer drive-thru service. It is not clear what proportion of orders are either delivered or picked up at drive-thru windows.

 

opportunities:

  • Focus on the dine-in experience in order to encourage more customers to eat in the restaurants.
    • Ensure adequate seating for eating in.
    • Add communal tables as seating options.
  • Limit kiosk or app-based automated ordering in order to promote more interaction among staff and customers.
  • Facilitate family style meals for both in-person dining and delivery or take-out orders.
 
 

Getting Outdoors

neutral to slight negative influence

 

Providing outdoor seating can positively influence the amount of time that customers spend outdoors. Building H reviewed a sample of Subway locations and found that none featured outdoor seating as an option.

The walkability of restaurant locations can influence the amount of time customers spend outdoors. The more walkable, the more likely it is that customers walk or bike to and from the locations and thus spend time outdoors. As noted above, 52% of Subway's locations were in either “most walkable” or “above-average walkable” neighborhoods, while 48% were in “below-average walkable” or “least walkable” neighborhoods.

 

opportunities:

  • Offer outdoor seating at restaurants.
  • Create robust outdoor play areas for families.
 
 
 

Notes

 

  1. All Subway Locations in United States. Subway website, accessed July 2023.

  2. About Us. Subway website, accessed November 3, 2023.

  3. Junxiu Liu et al. Quality of Meals Consumed by US Adults at Full-Service and Fast-Food Restaurants, 2003–2016: Persistent Low Quality and Widening Disparities. The Journal of Nutrition. Volume 150, Issue 4 (April 2020), pp. 873–883.

  4. Iris Liu et al. A continuous indicator of food environment nutritional quality. MedRxiv. November 26, 2021.

  5. The RNQ is based on the ratio of nutrients recommended by dietary guidelines, e.g. protein and fiber, to ingredients whose consumption should be restricted, such as sugars, sodium and saturated fats, for the median menu item. Building H modified the RNQ by selecting the most featured breakfast and lunch/dinner menu items and weighting them by relative popularity of the breakfast items and items sold at lunch or dinner. (To determine relative popularity of breakfast items and items sold at lunch or dinner, Building H examined data on customer traffic at different times of day for a sample of restaurants.)

  6. Based on a Building H review of the most featured meal combos in September 2023, as compared with federal data on how Americans distribute their calories across meals (see Eliana Zeballos et al. Frequency and Time of Day That AmericansEat: A Comparison of Data From the AmericanTime Use Survey and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. USDA Economic Research Service, Technical Bulletin Number 1954. July 2019) and federal dietary guidelines for moderately active adults (see U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. December, 2020, p.. 140).

  7. Based on a Building H review of Google’s “popular times” data for a sample of 50 randomly selected Subway locations. July 2023.

  8. Sample online order via subway.com. October 10, 2023.

  9. Based on a random sample of 50 US locations. For the National Walkability Index, see U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. National Walkability Index: Methodology and User Guide. July 2023.

  10. Based on a Building H review of service options listed on Google for a random sample of Subway locations. July 2023.

  11. Nicola Chung et al. Does the Proximity of Meals to Bedtime Influence the Sleep of Young Adults? A Cross-Sectional Survey of University Students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Volume 17, Issue 8 (April 14, 2020), p. 2677.

  12. Based on a Building H review of Google’s “popular times” data for a sample of 50 randomly selected Subway locations. July 2023.

  13. Based on a Building H review of Google’s data on how much time people typically spend at a location for a random sample of Subway locations. July 2023.