Consumers Choose Subway for Healthy Options

INVERNESS, Ill.Subways marketing campaign touting its healthy sandwich offerings is bringing in the bread, capturing more than 76% of the health-oriented purchases made at major fast-food restaurants, according to CustomersDNAs new QSRdna consumer study.

McDonald's captured 11% of healthy orders, followed by Wendy's with 10%, and Burger King garnering 3%. Data revealed 15% of fast-food lunch and dinner customers selected a menu item for health reasons. On average, the health-conscious customers eat at one or more of the leading chains nearly four times each month. In addition to choosing healthy items, they're also seeking out value or taste for their menu choices.

The Top 10 list consisted entirely of Subway offerings with its Turkey Breast, Veggie Delight and Oven-Roasted Chicken Breast sandwiches being the most popular among health-conscious patrons.

Eleven percent of the U.S. population has ordered a fast food item for health reasons during the past year and Subway is the only major chain to successfully crack the code for these health-conscious customers," said Dave Jenkins, CustomersDNAs co-founder. We found that the three most important factors in the purchase decisions of these shoppers are value, taste and health, and Subway ranked first in each of the three criteria."

The study was based on a national sample of more than 15,000 respondents and covered 75+ U.S. quick serve restaurant (QSR) chains and more than 2,000 specific chain menu items. The study focused on consumer visit patterns, frequency, menu preferences and loyalty across five purchase occasions (breakfast, lunch/dinner, hot beverage only, cold beverage only and frozen treat only) over the course of a 12-month period.