Subway is marketing its new footlong cookies, churros and pretzels as “freshly baked,” but they must first be removed from the freezer and thawed, according to company documents obtained by The Post.
in Press release at the end of last monththe fast-food giant promoted its new line of Sidekick snacks scheduled for nationwide release in February, claiming that it “sells more freshly baked cookies than any other restaurant company in the United States.” .
Paul Favre, Subway’s senior vice president of culinary and innovation, said in a statement that the cookies are “thick, gooey, packed with chocolate chips, and served hot right out of the oven.” Stated.
But a training handbook distributed to franchisees in recent weeks says it takes four hours to thaw frozen Footlong cookies and two hours to thaw churros and pretzels.
According to the handbook, “Put 8 churros, 6 pretzels, and 3 cookies in a pot and thaw.”
“When a guest tells you they want a sandwich, offer them a sidekick,” the manual adds. “The trick to ordering a sidekick is to finish all the sandwiches first, then put the sidekick in the speed oven to heat up. So it’s nice and warm.”
By comparison, many Dunkin’ stores get their donuts from a central store every day and don’t freeze or thaw them, according to a Dunkin’ employee, but the store instead buys frozen donuts and then thaws them. There is also an option.
As The Post previously reported, Subway saw foot traffic decline in the third quarter and in October, according to internal data from two regions that account for about 10% of U.S. restaurants.
That’s why the success of Sidekicks’ launch is important, Subway’s regional manager said in an email to franchisees, adding that restaurants in her area are in decline, according to the franchisee.
According to the presentation, Subway is introducing new “craving and shareable snacks” as part of its “4.0 Refresh,” including footlong churros in partnership with Cinnabon, pretzels and cookies in partnership with Auntie Anne’s.
A Subway franchisee told the Post that Walmart’s Subway has been selling a similar menu item for some time, so the new Footlong Snacks aren’t an entirely new idea.
A Metro spokesperson did not return calls.
