Vs Goliath: Jersey Mike’s Subs vs Subway
When it comes to submarine sandwich choices, American sandwich fans have quite a few to choose from. It’s safe to say that the most well-known sandwich chain in the United States is Subway. They may be facing a bit of a crisis from overexpanding and be reaping the perils of their own success, but still, Subway is almost everywhere. If your town has at least one chain sandwich shop, it’s probably a Subway.
Is Jersey Mike’s Healthier Than Subway?
When it comes to submarine sandwich choices, American sandwich fans have quite a few to choose from. It’s safe to say that the most well-known sandwich chain in the United States is Subway. They may be facing a bit of a crisis from overexpanding and be reaping the perils of their own success, but still, Subway is almost everywhere. If your town has at least one chain sandwich shop, it’s probably a Subway.
Yet, there’s another chain sandwich shop on the rise — Jersey Mike’s. Per the company’s website, Jersey Mike’s has more than 2,000 locations, and while that’s still a far cry from Subway’s numbers, Jersey Mike’s is catching on. So which sandwich shop is your best bet if you’re looking for a healthy hoagie?
Subway has the healthier sub sandwich
In their review, Business Insider declared that Jersey Mike’s was a much better tasting sandwich with fresher ingredients than Subway. Taste is one thing though — what about nutrition?
Sorry, Jersey Mike’s, but Subway has you beat by a long shot when it comes to the healthiest sandwich. Let’s break this down by looking at the unhealthiest and the healthiest sandwiches on each menu. For this, we’ll refer to the 6-inch sub from Subway and the regular size (7-1/2 inch) sub from Jersey Mike’s.
According to Eat This, Not That! the unhealthiest sandwich on Subway’s menu is the chicken and bacon ranch melt. It weighs in at 610 calories and with 32 grams of fat, that’s more than 40 percent of the FDA’s daily recommended fat intake. You do get 36 grams of protein with this sandwich, but it also has 1,340 milligrams of sodium and six grams of sugar. Yuck.
As for Jersey Mike’s, well, let’s just say that Mike isn’t too concerned with calories or sodium (via Eat This, Not That!). Jersey Mike’s original Italian sub has 940 calories with 53 grams of fat between those buns. It also has 2,351 milligrams of sodium and 11 grams of sugar. Woof!
Jersey Mike’s healthiest sub is still unhealthier than Subway
So, what if you’re trying to find the healthiest healthy sandwich between the two chains>? Again, it turns out that you’re better off going with Subway. The healthiest sandwiches on the menus at both chains include chicken, but Subway’s oven-roasted chicken sandwich wins out. The sandwich only has 270 calories and 3.5 grams of fat. It does still have 6 grams of sugar, but its sodium content is considerably less than the chicken and bacon ranch melt with just 560 milligrams.
Jersey Mike’s chicken Philly sandwich, however, is 670 calories. Yup, it’s already unhealthier than Subway’s unhealthiest sandwich. It also has 22 grams of fat, 1,990 milligrams of sodium, and 10 grams of sugar.
A sandwich at Jersey Mike’s might have an extra inch and a half on Subway, but that shouldn’t result in sandwiches that are so much unhealthier.
Vs Goliath: Jersey Mike’s Subs vs Subway
Initially marketed as a healthier fast-food alternative, submarine sandwich chains have become fast-food behemoths with their own competitive hierarchy. At the top of that list is the always recognizable Subway, a company who once seemed to take on an impossible task against McDonald’s and now stands shoulder to shoulder with them as a goliath. They positioned themselves as a leader in value with their “five-dollar footlong” promotion and the guise of their healthy options. This led to massive international expansion and the brand now regularly battles for the spot of No. 1 fast-food chain in the world. Subway blazed quite the trail and it wasn’t long before other sandwich chains gave chase. Jersey Mike’s Subs has become one of their fastest growing competitors by putting a premium twist on classic menu items. Taking on Subway is a tall task, does Jersey Mike’s have what it takes?
Subway got its start back in 1965 as Pete’s Super Submarines and switched to the Subway name in 1968 before franchising their first location in 1974. The chain grew quickly after that and hit 500 stores by 1985 and 11,000 by 1995. Subway’s international success was a key component in their rapid expansion and rise through the fast-food ranks. Positioning themselves as a healthy fast-food alternative allowed them to siphon consumers and avoid some of the public backlash that was aimed at their competitors for their fried food and greasy burgers. This was coupled with value promotions that had catchy names, like “five-dollar footlong”, allowing the chain to bring in droves of new customers. Depending on the year, Subway is ranked as the No. 1 or No. 2 fast-food chain in the world next to McDonalds, no small feat when you consider how dominant the golden arches are in this category. In recent years, Subway moved away from their value offerings and made some headlines for the wrong reasons. Their status as a healthy alternative was questioned when the Supreme Court of Ireland ruled that the chain’s bread had too much sugar to meet the nation’s legal definition in 2020. When compared to restaurants like Sweetgreen, Subway is not considered as healthy as it once was. The company has gone through several revamps over the past few years in an attempt to reclaim lost consumers. Subway launched a new menu of pre-designed sandwiches to improve efficiency and tied each item to a celebrity athlete in new ad campaigns. New competitors have taken some of the shine that they once had, yet their recent sale of $9.6 billion to Roark Capital indicates that the brand is far from being topped.
One of the competitors that has stolen the thunder from Subway is Jersey Mike’s Subs. In many ways their restaurant is a modern update to what Subway used to be. They offer a deli counter that moves as an assembly line and have a menu with a number of pre-designed sandwiches that can be customized and altered to the customer’s liking. They also offer hot subs that are made freshly on a grill in front of consumers with a premium feeling to all of their meats and toppings. This experience is reflected in the price and the company is not concerned with the fast part of fast-food. All deli meats are sliced to order, an idea that Subway has recently added to their own restaurants. This sets Jersey Mike’s apart and has captured patrons who are looking for a more personalized experience that doesn’t try to please everyone. It is a measure of their success that their competitor Subway has attempted to fold so many of these ideas into their latest rebranding. Jersey Mike’s slower service and pricey strategy may prevent them from being as ubiquitous as Subway, yet they have already carved out a sizable space in fast-food.
Despite some stumbling along the way, Subway is a Goliath that will likely never be unseated. Their widespread appeal has opened eyes to the value of a good sandwich, and many will always associate a customized sub with their brand. However, the massive footprint of Subway has opened the door for competitors like Jersey Mike’s who don’t have to worry about pleasing customers across tens of thousands of locations around the world.
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