Subway announces a new price for footlongs as it enters the value menu wars

Jordan Valinsky, CNN

New York (CNN) — It’s not $5, but Subway is bringing backmost inexpensive footlongs and joining nan accelerated nutrient worth paper wars.

Beginning August 26, Subway will waste immoderate footlong sandwich for $6.99 — a steep discount considering that immoderate footlongs tin costs arsenic overmuch arsenic $14 successful immoderate cities. It’s nan privately held chain’s latest effort astatine luring backmost customers who are balking astatine rising accelerated nutrient prices and spending little erstwhile they do spell out.

The woody has a catch: The connection is only disposable via its app aliases website pinch nan codification “699FL” and ends connected September 8.

Subway is owned by a backstage equity patient and doesn’t often uncover income for illustration its publically traded rivals. However, its income and postulation struggles, according to waste and acquisition mag Restaurant Business, reflector nan issues McDonald’s, Burger King and Starbucks person been facing this year.

“Today’s diner is stretched much than ever, and excessively often that intends a tradeoff connected quality, assortment aliases spirit to find an affordable meal,” Doug Fry, president of Subway North America, said successful a property release. “Our paper is afloat of footlongs for each budget, and this caller woody intends our guests tin get nan sandwiches they crave astatine a awesome value.”

Subway besides has been diversifying its paper arsenic nan prices of its sandwiches rise. The concatenation precocious started trading $3 Dippers and Sidekick snacks priced betwixt $2 and $5, to target cash-conscious customers who are possibly turned disconnected by nan higher prices of its different items.

The summation of Sidekicks and Dippers “makes sense,” said David Henkes, elder main astatine Technomic, antecedently telling CNN that Subway needs to summation gross location since accelerated nutrient customers person begun pushing backmost connected value increases amid inflation.

“They’ve underperformed successful nan sandwich segment, truthful they request to shingle things up a small spot and thrust immoderate incremental traffic,” Henkes said. Technomic information shows that Subway besides lags successful income for sides and snacks compared to its competitors.

In caller years, Subway has added customization to its menu, doubled down connected pushing orders to its app, accrued its world beingness and introduced freshly sliced meats — a awesome displacement from Subway’s erstwhile method of delivering acold cuts pre-sliced.

Another awesome hurdle for Subway is it its dwindling shop count: The concatenation closed much than 400 restaurants successful nan US successful 2023, finishing nan twelvemonth pinch its fewest (20,133) since 2005.