Zinnia Financial Reports Subway Outnumbers McDonald's To Be Crowned Fast Food King

Online, March 14, 2011 (Newswire.com) - On Monday of last week, the sandwich making franchise giant Subway confirmed they have overtaken McDonald's to become the world's largest restaurant chain. Subway had 33,749 restaurants globally in 2010 with McDonald's coming in second standing at 32,737. This feat is made even more remarkable considering Subway had less than 30,000 restaurants as recently as 2008. The sandwich giant intends to expand their empire further by opening up to 2000 additional locations annually.

Approximately 50% of Subway's growth happens outside of the U.S. with Subway opening in some non-traditional locations including recently: their first store in Vietnam, a branch in a church in the U.S. and a zoo branch in Taiwan. This is perhaps proof that Subway's compact restaurants can squeeze into spaces where McDonald's just can't fit.

'A lot of our growth has been in non-traditional spaces that our competitors might not touch,' Les Winograd, a Subway spokesman, commented. 'We have really unique ones, like on a riverboat in Germany, car dealers, bowling alleys and casinos. We're not just in strip malls.'

Experts at Zinnia Financial, a division of Zinnia Services, Ltd. have noted that the fast food market, unlike many others, has not suffered from the recession, in fact, quite the opposite. Consumers are opting to dine in fast food joints instead of choosing their more expensive counterparts. This, however, has not stopped the slimming sandwich King which is looking to China to become one of its largest markets with over 500 restaurants to be opened by 2015. Competition will come from local sandwich shops and franchises, but Subway's consistency based on their assembly line production process has proven to be hard to match for the competition.

Subway is entirely franchisee-owned which has been a major contributor to its success. Its down-sized restaurants cost less to open than its rivals. In addition, the company's prominence in budgeting, marketing and advertising has helped to develop the brand. Both brands have experienced massive success, and moving forward both look to continue to expand.

The sandwich giant may be punching its weight in terms of store numbers but Micky D's, which is also franchise orientated, remains the unrivalled revenue champion. McDonald's allegedly accrued in the area of $24 billion in its last fiscal year, approximately $9 billion more than Subway. When it comes down to it, money talks and McDonald's can't keep quiet.