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SINGAPORE: Subway, the world's largest sandwich franchise, is looking to nearly quadruple the number of its outlets in Asia in the next five years. It's setting a target of more than 3,000, from about 800 now.
Subway founder Fred De-Luca disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Channel NewsAsia.
Subway outlets are already a familiar sight in Asia and the continent will soon be chomping down more of these sandwiches.
With some 32,000 stores around the world now, mostly in the west, Subway's founder Fred De-Luca is looking for a bigger bite of profits from Asia.
The region is still a small part of Subway's business contributing just 2.5 per cent of overall revenues.
The company's brand awareness is also quite low in China, with 150 stores and a penetration rate of less than one per cent compared to more developed markets like Singapore of 30 per cent or more.
And the strategy ahead is to grow the store count.
Fred Deluca, founder & president, Subway, said: "Right now, in Asia, we've got 800 stores in operation. Over the next year we'll be adding about 100 stores to the region and we look forward to much more growth in the region. China and India are both growing at a pretty good clip. Both will add about 40 stores each this year."
The sandwich chain currently grows at a rate of 2,000 stores per year and despite last year's downturn, revenues continued to rise.
Subway said it wants to match the store count of McDonald's in Asia, especially China, in 10 years.
Mr Deluca said: "I think there's a very good chance we could grow to 3,000 stores in Asia within five years. I could see a day coming where we'll be adding 1,000 stores a year in Asia will certainly be a possibility."
Subway's strategy is to grow with the same franchise model wherever it goes in the world that is, to start small, with small sized outlets and small initiatial investments for franchisees.
It believes this will lower the break-even point for the franchisee. - CNA/vm
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