No marketing to children
The Subway® brand does not market to children. Any promotion of the Subway® Kids’ Pak™ is aimed at families and seeks to present different menu options so that parents or guardians can make an informed choice from our range of on-the-go products for their child.
We do not have an online presence targeted at children so no section of our website is for children only. We do not advertise any of our products in computer games. We strictly adhere to the codes of conduct as set out by the Advertising Standards Authority.
Getting families active
In stores throughout the UK and Ireland, employees, customers and members of the public are encouraged to register for the annual Subway® Helping Hearts Family 5k Series, in partnership with leading heart health charity Heart Research UK.
2017 heralds a new partnership to further strengthen the brand’s commitment to getting the nation fit and active, with the Subway® brand joining forces with ‘Sports for Schools’. This programme is aimed at inspiring the nation’s primary school children to get active together with British and Irish Olympians to encourage participation.
Nutritious and affordable menus
Work is underway to finalise a set of New Product Development/reformulation guidelines to future-proof the brand in an environment of ever increasing policy and regulation. The Subway® brand constantly reviews the nutritional profile of all food products, seeking to reduce fat, saturates, salt and sugar across all menu options and provide ongoing improvements without compromising on taste.
In 2017, the brand is piloting low/no sugar beverage trials across the UK and Ireland. One example is a partnership with Public Health England to create new franchise compliance guidance for non-traditional sites in hospitals.
Making a positive contribution within the communities that we operate
Subway® stores form the largest and most successful franchised network of businesses in the UK and Ireland. Almost 60% of Subway® stores are found on British and Irish high streets. This means that Subway® franchisees are well positioned to positively contribute to local communities, beyond running successful businesses that attract greater footfall to high streets, many of which are often struggling.
Many Subway® franchisees engage with their local communities, sponsoring local sports teams and leading on local charity initiatives. These are in addition to the brand’s 5k series and our new programme to support increased sports participation in local schools through our charity partner, Sports for Schools.
Committing to reducing our environmental footprint
We understand that many of our customers want to buy products that support their local businesses and economy and where there are opportunities to buy products locally, we take advantage of them. Where this is not possible, it is our policy to source globally with integrity while delivering great value for money on products for our customers. We currently source the majority of our meat from Europe. When it is necessary to source outside Europe, suppliers must meet all EU standards and laws as a minimum requirement.
We believe in the need to maintain sustainable fish stocks and support the use of independently assessed responsible fishing practices worldwide. Our long-term goal is to work with industry to move to more sustainable practices via several methods including sourcing seafood from independently certified sustainable fisheries, supporting protected areas, and driving progress towards sustainable sourcing. We have already taken significant company-wide measures to achieve this goal. Additionally, where palm oil is used, we always ensure that it is certified as coming from sustainable sources.
We champion a ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ approach to minimise both the waste produced in the business, and the waste generated by our customers.
We aim to reduce food waste to an average of less than 1% per store. We strive to achieve this through the tight operational procedures followed by Subway® franchisees where our ingredients are replenished, fresh throughout the day, only as required.
Behind the scenes, we have been working diligently to improve the sustainability of our products and operations. From streamlining our supply chain and using sustainable sourcing practices, to ensuring our high food quality and food safety standards are met, we not only help to reduce energy, water usage and waste, but we’re taking care of the environment too. Globally, the plants and distribution centres that we use have been strategically located to significantly reduce transportation costs, fuel usage and carbon emissions.
Over the last few years, we have switched to using more sustainable products and business practices that use less energy and resources, and generate less waste. Some highlights include:
- In the UK alone, we have cut road miles by over 400,000 per annum by adding new depots to the distribution network for food and produce, and bringing them closer to stores
- Improved the energy efficiency of the equipment used in our stores
- Optimised packaging of ingredients which has removed at least 650 tonnes of cardboard from our waste stream each year
- Our cleaning chemicals are non-toxic, non-corrosive and are biodegradable (with the exception of the sanitiser and delimer)
- We have worked with our pickle and pepper suppliers in Europe to reduce the amount of brine. This means we can ship 29% more product in the same amount of packaging, saving around 47,000 cardboard boxes per year
- Our napkins are made from 100% recycled material and are fully recyclable