Dive Brief:

• Subway will add a new lineup of wraps at its restaurants nationwide on April 11, the company said in a press release Thursday.
• These new menu items, served on new lavash-style bread, mark the first new bread option the chain has offered in three years.
• The lavash wraps are the latest menu change at the chain, which has been adapting its menu since 2021. Earlier this year, it added three snack food items.

Dive Insight:

Subway’s menu refreshes have been particularly successful of late. Subway sold 3.5 million Sidekick snack items, which include Footlong Cookies, Cinnabon Footlong Churros and Auntie Anne’s Footlong Pretzels, within the first two weeks of the launch. Footlong Cookies have been so popular that Subway had to temporarily remove them from digital menus to accommodate demand. The company reported a 6.4% increase in same-store sales globally and a 5.9% increase in North American same-store sales last year.

Subway, which also offered wraps with wheat tortillas, found that lavash can hold more ingredients than a tortilla. It appears Subway has replaced its tortilla wraps, based on a Virginia store’s website and conversations among Subway employees on Reddit. 

“We spent over a year creating signature recipes with unique ingredients that bring out the best in our new lavash-style flatbread,” said Paul Fabre, senior vice president of culinary and innovation at Subway.

Subway will also overhaul its beverage lineup after signing a 10-year agreement with Pepsi earlier this year. That agreement will begin in January 2025. Subway said this change would “provide additional value to franchisees, including all new beverage equipment provided to restaurants.” The new drink lineup will include classic Pepsi drinks, including Pepsi Zero Sugar, MTN Dew, Starry, Tropicana, Lipton, Aquafina and Gatorade. The chain also renewed its agreement with Frito-Lay through 2030. 

Subway has supported its menu innovations with substantial investments. Last year, it spent $80 million to equip stores with deli slicers for its fresh-sliced deli meat sandwiches. In 2022, the company rolled out its biggest menu update in its history with the release of its Subway Series menu, which allows customers to order sandwiches by number.