Subway to Expand its Business by 35% This Year in Spain

Up until only recently, I had never eaten in a Subway restaurant. Despite the fact that Subway has been around for years, and so have I!

In fact, the fast-food sandwich franchise is one of the fastest-growing food and drink businesses in the world, with more than 44,000 restaurants.

And, the chain is now focusing on Spain as the place to expand, as it plans to open 18 new restaurants this year alone. This will mean a 35% growth in its presence in this country over the next 12 months.

And the growth strategy doesn’t stop there. By the end of the decade, bosses also hope to open 150 new premises around the country. With 18 set to open this year, 150 over the next four years is not impossible by any means.

However, if enough investors are found, or come to them as has been the trend, it is not unlikely that more than 18 franchises will be established this year. Many investors are seeing it as an excellent business opportunity.

Nevertheless, the new establishments that will definitely be inaugurated in 2016 will be located in the regions of Cataluña, Madrid, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, the Valencia Region, Andalucía and the Basque Country. These are the main areas that will be focused on. However, the small region of Asturias in the north of the country will also receive its first ever Subway franchise some time before the end of the year.

Director of sales of Subway franchises, Alessandra d’Agostino, has said that opening a Subway restaurant is not just adding another notch to their post and list of franchises across the globe, the company is happy to be able to help the local area by creating jobs and aiding the local economy.

Subway’s success has been attributed to the fact that the initial outlay to establish a restaurant is very low, yet once the business is up and running, it doesn’t take long before profits are made. Subways can be set up more or less in any area, which also helps when thinking about this type of business.

With McDonalds’ sales taking a massive hit in many countries across the globe, consumers are looking for healthier options. Many might see Subway’s sandwiches, with its wholemeal seedy bread and ‘fresh’ salad filling as a nutritious alternative.

The company was hugely criticized when a food blogger discovered and revealed that a chemical called azodicarbonamide, which had been FDA approved as a bleaching agent and dough conditioner, was used to make the sandwich bread. This chemical is commonly referred to as ‘yoga mat chemical’ as it is also used to make yoga mats and shoe rubber. It has been linked to asthma, allergies and respiratory ailments.

Subway restaurants did subsequently announce, however, that they would completely remove this chemical from their breads in all restaurants.

Source: www.expansion.com, www.foodbabe.com