- Complimentary Cheese Slices Removed from Subway Sandwiches in India
- Additional Charge Introduced for Cheese on Sandwiches, Complimentary “Cheezy” Sauce Offered
- Rising Ingredient Costs Drive Fast-Food Chains in India to Implement Cost-Cutting Measures
Subway sandwiches in India will no longer come with the option of a complimentary cheese slice, as a result of menu revisions that analysts viewed as more about cost-cutting than flavor.
With approximately 800 locations, Subway is one of the largest restaurant franchisees in India. They now charge an additional 30 rupees ($0.40) for cheese on most sandwiches but offer a complimentary “cheezy” sauce instead.
Rising prices for ingredients, such as dairy products, have placed pressure on global fast-food chains in India to reduce costs while maintaining customer satisfaction.
In India, the promotional price for Domino’s cheapest pizza is just 60 cents, and its franchisee has expressed concern over a 40 percent increase in the price of cheese during the fiscal year that ended in March.
In recent weeks, many Subway and McDonald’s locations in India have removed tomatoes from their menus, citing quality concerns as a result of the 450 percent price increase.
To alleviate the shortage, India has resorted to importing tomatoes from Nepal.
Everstone Group’s Culinary Brands, which manages the supply chain for all 800 outlets and is the master licensee for approximately 200, stated that the free cheese sauce at Subway India was “developed for purely qualitative reasons.”
The change in quality is not to everyone’s liking.
Unsatisfied customer Sumit Arora posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that Subway had “replaced the cheese slice with liquid cheese blend… You just lost a loyal customer.”
A Subway store manager in New Delhi told Reuters that the price per kilogram of the new cheese condiment is Rs400. The market price for cheese segments is approximately Rs700 per kilogram.
Mayur Hola, the marketing director of Culinary Brands, stated that a cheese sliver can be added for a nominal fee. “We do not remark on the price of ingredients… This is merely an improvement to our submarines.”
Karan Taurani, a consumer discretionary analyst at India’s Elara Capital, stated that increased dairy, grain, and vegetable prices have forced restaurants to adopt “innovative” strategies.
“It is a method of applying inflationary pressure to the customer as opposed to a price increase,” he explained.
In India, a Subway sandwich costs between 200 and 300 rupees ($2.4 to $3.6), and adding the cheese slice, which was once complimentary, will increase the price by up to 15 percent.
Subway representatives did not respond to a request for comment. This week, India’s central bank increased its inflation forecast for the current fiscal year to 5.4%, citing food price pressures.
