Subway, the globally popular sandwich-eatery chain, is now grappling with sweeping changes in India—and not for the better. For one, the world’s largest quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand is moving away from the franchise model it has operated under for the past 25 years. In doing so, it’s also shedding the very thing that made it popular in the first place: choice.
A customer could walk into a Subway store, point at the lettuce, get extra olives, skip the mustard, and be done—their sandwich (or wrap/bowl), their rules. But not anymore.
Subway’s menu, once 100% customisable, has cut down such options to 70%, according to all eight franchisee owners (franchisees) The Ken spoke with across Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, and Delhi.
In fact, in the last six months, the menu has been changed at least thrice, said one of them based in Mumbai. “This has never happened. It’s not usually how things at a global QSR chain work.”
But this isn’t just about fewer customisable options. Subway India has been dealing with deeper problems since the pandemic—which pushed its US-based parent company to restructure its business globally.
In 2021, Subway signed an agreement with private investment firm Everstone Capital, part of Singapore-headquartered Everstone Group. Through Eversub In India, Everstone Capital owns Culinary Brands, which runs three F&B franchises in India: Subway and two coffee brands—Lavazza and Fresh & Honest. The company running the Subway franchisee is called Eversub India Private Ltd.
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