Subway joins competitors, rolls out new practice of fresh-slicing meat daily 

Sandwich chain Subway recently announced that its roughly 20,000 U.S. locations began freshly slicing their deli meat onWednesday, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

The shift from Subway’s previous method of slicing meat at its factories and delivering it to stores to slicing meat fresh several times per day brings the chain in line with methods at its smaller competitors like Jimmy John’s, Jersey Mike’s Subs, and Firehouse Subs.

These competitors have been growing their store counts in recent years, while Subway has closed around 7,000 locations since 2016. Additionally, data from QSR Magazine showed that Subway rakes in around $500,000 per location, while its three rivals make twice that amount.

The move marks Subway’s biggest change since two years ago when it began a refresh of its menu offerings, restaurant appearances, and ingredients in attempt to boost sagging sales and its attractiveness as an acquisition target.

The chain is rolling out four new sandwiches to promote the changes and highlight the new slicer. Subway has said it had a record-setting year in 2022 with sales at its North American stores that have been open a year or more rising 7.8% compared to 2021. Subway is also up for sale, with an announcement likely later this month.