Dive Brief:
- Subway added three Footlong Dippers to its Sidekicks menu on Tuesday, the company said in a press release.
- The Pepperoni & Cheese, Chicken & Cheese and Double Cheese Footlong Dippers are wrapped in lavash flatbread and cost $3. They are served with one of Subway’s 11 sauces. The price is higher in California, Alaska and Hawaii.
- Since debuting its snack-focused Sidekicks menu in January, the company has sold nearly 30 million of these items, said Doug Fry, Subway’s North America president.
Dive Insight:
Subway has been renovating its menu since 2021, when it introduced the Eat Fresh Refresh menu. The addition of the Dippers marks the third menu update the company has made this year, which also includes the launch of lavash flatbread wraps in April.
“Subway’s all-new Dippers embody the changes Subway has made over the past few years by elevating our food and guest experience to better meet the needs of today's diner – balancing their love for the iconic footlong alongside our commitment to convenience, crave and value,” Fry said in the announcement.
Its Sidekicks menu, which includes a Footlong Cookie, Auntie Anne’s, Footlong Pretzel and Cinnabon Footlong Churro, has been particularly successful for the chain. During the first two weeks of the launch, Subway sold over 3.5 million Sidekick items. Its Footlong Cookie was so popular that the company had to take it off its app and third-party sites due to supply issues. The chain brought it back on the menu in May across all channels and restaurants. Between January and May, it sold 5 million Footlong Cookies.
The Sidekicks menu also plays into growing consumer demand for snacking options. Sweets and snack concepts had the sharpest growth in openings of any restaurant type from May 2023 to April 2024, according to Yelp; dessert shop openings were up 52% in that time. Several chains have added snackable items to their lineups, including Starbucks, Little Caesars and Jack in the Box.
