Subway Seems Unable To Get Why People Loved Them

The sandwich chain Subway built its success on being a more healthy, fresh, alternative to traditional fast food joints.

Yet, over the past few years, they seem unable to figure out why people just don't go there as much anymore. Here's something: try not to dupe your customers into thinking your food is healthier than it is.

Running a restaurant empire is always a challenge. Trying to actually run a restaurant empire that lives up to being healthy and fresh can be even more challenging. The latest challenge facing Subway is that the tuna used in its sandwiches isn't 100% tuna fish. You can read more about whether or not Subway uses 100% real tuna, or not here. The latest on this is a federal judge's ruling that Subway's 100% tuna claim can be misleading to consumers.

According to Today.com, the judge's ruling says:

“Although it is possible that Subway’s explanations are the correct ones, it is also possible that these allegations refer to ingredients that a reasonable consumer would not reasonably expect to find in a tuna product."

This isn't the first time Subway's gotten in hot water with the court over its food. In 2020 an Irish Court ruled that the bread used on the chain's sandwiches contains too much sugar to be classified as bread in Ireland. The sugar content makes it a confectionary. You can read more about that in the Guardian.

Oh, and we haven't talked about the chicken. Back in 2017 the Canadian Broadcasting Company reported that their Oven Roasted Chicken Sandwich patty, and the chicken used in their Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki Strip was about half chicken or less. In this case Subway sued the Canadian Broadcasting Company and lost.

This doesn't get into the whole lawsuit thing about Subway's foot long sandwiches being only 11 inches in legnth. They fixed this as part of a lawsuit settlement according to Fortune.

I don't know about you, but yeah, most of these lawsuits, aside from their foot long only being 11 inches long, make we wonder how fresh Subway's sandiches are. Or how concerned Subway really is with the quality of their food or how concerned they are about the quality of food their customers are putting into their body.

Subway built their empire on a customer who managed to lose a lot of weight by eating their sandwiches, which regardless of how healthy or not they are, isn't all that surprising if you limit portions, load up on the veggies, and eat a lot less deep fried crap. Aside from the public relations nightmare that turned out to be based on the customer's character, perhaps hanging their success on health wasn't a good move.

Subway's spent the past two years trying to get customers back with their "Eat Fresh, Refresh" campaign. And now their all new menu with twelve new subs.

What's lost in all this is the simple promise Subway made to their customers. We'll make you a fresh sandwich, which can and is a healthier food choice if you're paying attention to what you order and what you put on your sandwich.

Tuna fish that may not be 100% tuna, chicken that is only 50% chicken, and bread with lots of sugar doesn't live up to that promise. You'd think by now, the chain would have figured that out. What seems to have happened instead is, most of us have figured out a sub from any place can be healthier than traditional fast food if you're paying attention to what you put on the sub. And it'll probably taste better than Subway's version of it.