It looks like more people are officially ‘eating fresh’ than ‘lovin’ it,’ as Subway has now overtaken McDonald’s as the world’s largest restaurant chain.
The sandwich shop chain can now claim the crown of biggest fast food franchise in the world, as they have officially surpassed McDonald’s, according to Subway spokesperson Les Winograd said.
Subway now has over 1,000 more locations than McDonald’s, claiming 33,749 shops in 2010, while McDonald’s reported 32,737 per a regulatory filing last month.
‘We overcame them at some point in 2010. One year ago, we were slightly behind,’ Winograd said today.
Last year was actually pretty average for us, growth-wise. We aim to open between 1,000 and 2,000 locations globally each year,’ he added.
Subway chalks up its success partially to its private ownership, meaning that it’s not listed on the stock market.
“That is our choice, and the reason for that is that it enables us to focus on the product, the quality, the restaurants and not on the other things associated with a public company, like financial statements,” said Winograd.
