News

Subway boosts bread offerings and digital efforts

September 6, 2016

Subway said it’s not only rolling in a new dough this week, but kicking off a whole new digital team to boost its efforts in stores and online. 

The new permanent addition to the popular chain’s bread offerings is a little on the seedy side, since the new multi-grain flatbread is chock-full of chia and flax seeds, bringing a whopping 50 grams of whole grains to the chain’s six-inch sandwiches wrapped in this particular bread variety. 

If you’re counting, 50 grams of whole grains is equal to the complete daily requirement of the Whole Grains Council, which this site featured just yesterday in an in-depth question-and-answer session about the growing use of whole grains in quick-service and pizza restaurants. Likewise, the new Subway flatbread has six grams of fiber, lots of calcium and vitamin D, and is certified by the Whole Grains Council. 

Also this week, the Subway Digital group begun earlier this summer just acquired a digital technology team and their assets from Avanti Commerce in Vancouver, which has worked with Subway for about five years now. 

A news release about the tech team addition said that the acquisition means about 20 digital professionals are joining the chain’s digital team as part of a larger effort to supplement that arm of the company by about 50 people by year’s end. 

The growing team is all about e-commerce and omnichannel platforms within the Subway system. However, the news release said Subway continues to work with  Avanti unilaterally on efforts like a new in-restaurant kiosk system.
 
"This reinforces our commitment to attracting top technology and digital marketing talent," said Subway CIO and Chief Digital Officer Carman Wenkoff in a news release. 

Avanti CEO Jason Strashek also added, "Being the only provider that has deployed online ordering at such a large scale, in multiple countries, has put us in a great position to pursue our mission of providing convenience while bridging the in-store and online experience for brands and customers alike — a real omnichannel approach." 

The news release said Subway plans to add a total of 150 new positions to its digital team over the next few years.