Do you know which is the biggest restaurant chain?

by chee Leng (on coffee makers)
(Singapore)

Subway outlet

Most of you would guessed McDonald, in fact, that's what I thought too , but no. It is Subway! This is according to a report by Wall Street Journal that placed Subway franchise system as the world's largest restaurant chain.

So, how did it get so big? Consider this:

1. It requires minimal equipment
2. It requires minimum space -mostly takeaways
3. It serves healthy food (something everyone is looking for)

Due to the above criteria, Subway is opening practically everywhere! Here are some places that it had opened:

1. Hospitals
2. Churches
3. Besides Carpark
4. New car Showroom
5. On top of a crane in New York World Trade Center!

The interesting places that one can find Subway just goes on and on. And because of its minimal requirement, it is relatively low cost to start a Subway, another reason why there are over 2000 franchisees looking for a location to open a Subway now!

At the time of this article, it is May, since January, Subway has opened 700 new Stores in 50 countries!

I do not know if this is better than the speed of Starbucks or McDonald's expansion during their heydays, but I thought for a mere 4 months plus, that is pretty fast expansions!

My $0.02

Subway is going to be a force in the coffee world by it sheer huge distribution network. Not too long ago, no one can imagine McDonald selling more coffee than Starbucks.

But, Mac D did that because of its Mac Cafe and also because of its larger network of outlets. Now, imagine if Subway were to concentrate on supporting a coffee brand, say Keurig -would the sales not explore exponentially?

I think they would be more coffee brands courting Subway right now, and whoever that get it, is going to experience amazing growth.

After all, a sub goes very well with a coffee, don't you think so?