Enjoy cheese in your Subway sandwiches? Get ready to pay extra

Subway India has made a significant change to its menu amid rising inflation. To cope with rising costs, it has removed the option of a complimentary cheese slice on its sandwiches has been removed.

Instead, customers are being offered a free "cheezy" sauce as an alternative. However, those who want a slice of cheese on their Subway sandwiches will have to pay an additional Rs 30, reported news agency Reuters.

Cost-cutting amid inflation

The surge in ingredient prices, including dairy products, has compelled global fast-food chains in India to find ways to manage costs while maintaining customer satisfaction.

For instance, Domino's, another popular chain, has faced a 40 per cent surge in cheese prices during the previous financial year, leading its franchisee to express concerns.

In response to soaring prices, several Subway and McDonald's outlets in India have taken tomatoes off their menus due to quality concerns, as prices have skyrocketed by around 450 per cent to unprecedented levels.

To counter tomato shortages, India has even resorted to importing tomatoes from Nepal.

Cheese sauce instead of slice

The introduction of free cheese sauce at Subway India is attributed to qualitative improvements. The Everstone Group's Culinary Brands, responsible for overseeing the supply chain of all 800 Subway outlets and acting as the master franchisee for around 200, has emphasised that this change was aimed at enhancing the overall quality of the subs.

A Subway store manager in New Delhi told Reuters that the new cheese sauce costs Rs 400 per kilogram, less than the market rates for cheese slices that retail at around Rs 700 per kilogram.

Despite the intention behind this change, not all customers are pleased. One individual, Sumit Arora, expressed dissatisfaction by stating on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), "You just lost a loyal customer," as the cheese slice was replaced with a liquid cheese blend.