Subway Breakfast

[Lil Pun]

Anybody try it yet? I haven't but I plan to sometime. It appears that Wendy's and Taco Bell plan to enter the breakfast market soon as well. It says they have tried before but I don't ever recall either chain serving breakfast. Maybe it was before my time. I still don't understand how McDonald's dominates the breakfast market but they dominate the fast food market as well and I don't get that but oh well.


http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home...breakfast-push

It might not be your local diner, or your mom's kitchen, but Subway is making a big bet that it can entice the morning crowd to see egg yolks in the color scheme of its bright yellow sandwich shops.

The chain known for its sandwiches rolled out its breakfast menu nationally last week, becoming the latest player to enter at full scale the hot morning-meal market dominated by McDonald's (NYSE: MCD - News) and its Egg McMuffins and hotcakes.

"Word is clearly out that if you pull [breakfast] off -- and there are many challenges -- profitability is actually pretty good," says Edward Jones analyst Jack Russo.

It's obvious why quick-serve restaurants (industry parlance for fast food) want to get into this space. Breakfast makes up more than 20% of the industry's traffic, according to market research firm NPD Group, and has been the fastest area of growth for some time.

But if dishing out eggs and O.J. is such a good idea, why doesn't everyone do it? Turns out, it's hard for fast food to do breakfast well. Subway, owned by privately held Doctor's Associates, has been testing the idea for years.

Wendy's (NYSE: WEN - News) and Taco Bell, which are working on getting back into the morning market, have both tried it unsuccessfully in the past, axing their early shifts when they didn't meet expectations. And McDonald's, with its $1 menu at breakfast, has signaled that it plans to fiercely protect its early bird crowd.

Unemployment has softened demand for breakfast on the go, which is mainly driven by workers stopping in to pick up a bite on the way to the office. Morning meal consumption dropped 2% for the year ending February 2010, says NPD. But that was better than the steeper decline at similar restaurants for lunch and dinner, and industry experts predict breakfast will be the first meal to make it back.

Despite Subway's popularity in the lunchtime sandwich world, analysts say that cooking up a winning breakfast proposition won't be easy for the chain. Here's what they say needs to happen to make it work:

1. Break Some Eggs to Break Prospective Customers' Routines

People are creatures of habit, especially when they're still waking up. Subway executives admit that getting morning people to think of Subway rather than their regular corner deli or drive-thru will be one of the biggest challenges. Even that's not enough: the restaurants can't just serve customers; they have to get them hooked. Subway's strategy here is to start with a low price-point: the $1.75 Egg Muffin Melt.

2. Be Everywhere the Customers Are

People want their morning meal to be fast and easy. One advantage here for Subway is that it has locations everywhere. With more restaurants in the U.S. than McDonald's, it's hard not to pass one on the way to work. A strike against it: Subway restaurants have almost no drive-thrus, which Russo says are a huge propeller of business for fast food establishments -- especially when hungry breakfast seekers don't want to leave the car between their home and their desk.

3. Stick With the Program

Building a customer base for breakfast takes time. That might be a problem for Subway, which is highly franchised. Typically, franchisees don't have the patience or resources to absorb short term losses in order to build up business for the long haul.

Yet, some analysts say that keeping franchisees happy may be one reason Subway launched a breakfast menu. The company had stellar same-store sales in 2009 thanks to the $5 footlong, says Stifel Nicolaus analyst Steve West. "They've got to come up with something to top that," he adds. "This is their opportunity to get more sales out of the box again."

4. Subway: Not Just for Lunch Anymore. Or Is It?

Subway has to get people to think of its restaurants as more than a sandwich place. "There's a credibility issue -- do people see it as a place that can offer breakfast," says Bernstein analyst Sara Senatore. "It's not like they have a griddle."

To help boost interest, Subway is leveraging what customers like about it for lunch -- healthy, fresh, and made to order. "Build your better breakfast," is the new slogan that's supposed to capture that attitude. Subway also has a history of strong marketing and is running two TV ads to get the word out. Getting a morning crowd might also help its lunch business. Busy office workers stopping by in the morning might just pick up a sandwich for later.

5. Piggyback on Other Breakfast Brands

Since Subway's not known for breakfast, it's collaborating with a brand that is by serving Seattle's Best Coffee. Burger King (NYSE: BKC - News) is doing the same. Taco Bell, which says it plans to launch its breakfast nationally in 2011, is hoping an affiliation with Jimmy Dean, Seattle's Best, Cinnabon, Quaker, and Dole (NYSE: DOLE - News) fruit juices will erase the Gordita from customers' pre-lunchtime memory.

In the end, cooking up the eggs might be the simplest part of the venture. "There aren't a lot of things you have to do right," says Senatore, "but you have to do it [all of it] well."

[RoxSqaud]

I want one.

[GRENDEL]

Originally Posted by RoxSqaud I want one.

That looks pretty tasty. Gonna try it tomorrow before and the wife fly out.

[RoxSqaud]

Originally Posted by GRENDAL That looks pretty tasty. Gonna try it tomorrow before and the wife fly out.

Gonna try one to.

Didnt know they were selling breakfast....

Subway had gotten old....this might spice the place back up...

[REEKO_HTOWN]

Funny they market themselves as a healthy food alternative and decide to potentially hurt themselves by serving food that's know to be somewhat unhealthy.

Eggs
Bacon
Cheese

[RoxSqaud]

Originally Posted by REEKO_HTOWN Funny they market themselves as a healthy food alternative and decide to potentially hurt themselves by serving food that's know to be somewhat unhealthy. Eggs Bacon Cheese

They have very healthy food....but I guess its up to you to order it...

Guess you could say that about alot of places...

[BmwM3]

Originally Posted by REEKO_HTOWN Funny they market themselves as a healthy food alternative and decide to potentially hurt themselves by serving food that's know to be somewhat unhealthy. Eggs Bacon Cheese

Actually had one the other day. It's not bad. It all depends on what you put in it. I got the sausage, egg white, swiss, onions, and red peppers.

[REEKO_HTOWN]

Originally Posted by BmwM3 Actually had one the other day. It's not bad. It all depends on what you put in it. I got the sausage, egg white, swiss, onions, and red peppers.

I guess If you take out the mayo and add fresh veggies it could be ok.

How's the white egg/sausage? greasy?

[white lightning]

I've had the double bacon & egg and it's pretty good. Get it on the flat bread instead of the regular sandwich bread.

[DonnyMost]

The Subway near my office downtown has been serving breakfast for a while now.

It's very good.

But then again, it is really hard to screw up breakfast.

[BmwM3]

Originally Posted by REEKO_HTOWN I guess If you take out the mayo and add fresh veggies it could be ok. How's the white egg/sausage? greasy?

Not really greasy. They put it in the toaster oven they have and it comes out super hot.

Like DonnyMost said, it's kind of hard to screw up breakfast.

[Baqui99]

Problem is that Subway isn't open until 7AM, whereas McDonald's opens at 5:30AM.

[leroy]

Wendy's did a trial at their stores in Austin and it failed miserably. No one went and the food wasn't very good. I like Wendy's for lunch, but their breakfast just wasn't good.

[Baqui99]

Originally Posted by leroy420 Wendy's did a trial at their stores in Austin and it failed miserably. No one went and the food wasn't very good. I like Wendy's for lunch, but their breakfast just wasn't good.

Yeah, I rememeber the Mopac and Parmer location offered it for awhile. Actually tried the Wendy's breakfast for the first time at JFK a couple of weeks back -> it was average to below-average.

[ItsMyFault]

It's alright....

I usually settle for a sub even during breakfast time if I go to subway in the early morning hours.

[bobrek]

Originally Posted by DonnyMost ...But then again, it is really hard to screw up breakfast.

You must never have eaten at an Ember's.

[Air Langhi]

Its all about the taquito's at whataburger.

[conquistador#11]

If they don't serve pancakes, then they don't serve breakfast. yumm pancakes.

[HAYJON02]

I used to get breakfast all the time at Wendys in the Union at UT. In the few years since I graduated, I've stopped by Wendy's a couple times for breakfast and sat at the drivethru waiting until i figure out theyre not even open until 10 or whatever. I figured that franchise just didnt have it for whatever reason. YOINK!

It wasn't bad. It tasted exacly like every other bacon egg and cheese biscuit with hashbrowns I've ever had. I'm surprised they couldn't compete. Wendy's has a pretty good reputation with most people.

[DonnyMost]

My favorite fast food breakfast is Chick-Fil-A.