Subway Owners Rebel Against New Sandwiches

By the Ami Ciccone

|

May 24, 2021

|

Food

Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock

It's official: Subway franchise owners are rebelling against Subway's new sandwiches, Fresh Melts. They say they are not only hard to make, but also dangerous. What's the company going to do about it? Read on to find out...

Subway Owners Against The Menu

Subway

Sometimes, consumers are the reason that a fast-food item fails. For those who don't know, in the past, fried mozzarella burger at McDonald's, "nature's cereal" drink at Starbucks, and a "chocolate Whopper" at Burger King all earned terrible reviews from fans. However, this time around, it's not the fans hating on Subway's new sandwiches, titled Fresh Melts.

What is the Fresh Melt? "The new Subway Fresh Melts deliver a triple portion of cheese that is grilled to perfection and offers a craveable bite," the company explained. "Fresh Melts are now available at participating restaurants nationwide and guests can satisfy their cravings by making any footlong a Fresh Melt for $1 more." It sounds delicious, and fans love the sandwiches. So what's the problem? Well, the North American Association of Subway Franchisees (NAASF), a trade group representing the company's franchise owners, is rebelling against the new Fresh Melts.

According to the NAASF, when preparing the sandwiches, employees could easily burn themselves or ruin the kitchen supplies! Thankfully, they explained its stance soon enough.

New Sandwiches Are Dangerous

Subway

"[We] cannot endorse this promotion under these circumstances," the NAASF wrote in the statement, rebelling against the new sandwiches. "We are hopeful that [Subway's Franchise World Headquarters] will confront these issues immediately and allow us the opportunity to stand with them and endorse this promotion. In the meantime, weigh out the above concerns and stand strong with the decision you make as a franchisee investor."

However, Subway will not stand down apparently. Soon enough, the company quickly responded to the NAASF. The safety of our franchisees and their restaurant employees is a top priority for us," the company said. "In addition to providing extensive training materials, a standard protocol is to thoroughly test all new products and innovations and make operational and equipment adjustments as needed, ensuring that our franchisees and hard-working sandwich artists are able to safely and consistently execute a quality meal that guests expect."

Sadly, it's far from the first time Subway has received some backlash or business troubles. Recently, the company has also faced dropping sales. Research firm Technomic recently released data showing its domestic sales fell to $8.3 billion in 2020. That's down another $10.2 billion from 2019. As you might imagine, the decline in business has come with massive store closures, too. Will these Fresh Melts end Subway? Likely not. However, it could present another thorn in the company's side, something the company does not need right now.