Subway will make its footlong cookie a permanent menu item, the chain said Wednesday.
The chain first debuted footlong cookies, in four sandwich-inspired flavors, on National Cookie Day in 2022. On Dec. 4, Subway will give away free chocolate chip footlong cookies with the purchase of a footlong sandwich from four stores in Chicago, Dallas, Miami and New York. This promotion will be available from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., or while supplies last. When Subway opened its CookieWay pop-up shop in Miami last year, supply of the dessert ran out in less than two hours.
“The overwhelming response we received from fans around the country last year let us know that we needed to make the footlong cookie a permanent addition to our menu,” Paul Fabre, Subway’s SVP of culinary and innovation, said in a press release.
The chain has altered the item since last year, Fabre said, increasing the density of chocolate chips. The permanent addition of the footlong cookie would mark a significant change to Subway’s dessert menu, and could help generate customer interest in the chain, which claims to be the biggest seller of fresh cookies among U.S. restaurants.
Subway’s recent menu changes support its ongoing turnaround efforts. In 2021, the sandwich giant launched its Eat Fresh Refresh menu, which changed a score of ingredients and altered many of its sandwiches. In summer 2022, Subway debuted the Subway Series, a slate of 12 subs made to order by name or number, rather than traditional customization. Most recently, the chain spent $80 million to install deli slicers to support a new menu category of meat-heavy subs called “Deli Heroes.”
These updates helped the chain make itself attractive enough to draw an acquisition bid from Roark Capital, the owner of Inspire Brands and Focus Brands, though that bid is now under investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
