Subway® today unveiled Blueprint, a reimagined restaurant and brand experience that modernises how guests order and eat to support growth across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). From 1 January 2027, every new Subway restaurant and remodel in the region will be built to Blueprint, the centrepiece of the company’s multi-year business strategy.
For more than 60 years, Subway has been built around customisation: every meal made to order exactly the guest’s way. Blueprint extends that customisation beyond the food to the rest of the experience.
The concept began with listening to guests and franchisees. The result is a blueprint for how Subway and its restaurants will look, work and feel as the brand continues to grow.
Blueprint covers three areas, each designed to give existing guests more reasons to return and new guests a reason to choose Subway:
- The restaurant. A fresh look and feel in a digitally connected space that flexes around guests and their choices.
- Expanded occasions. A new breakfast and coffee offer, Grab & Go, and Subway After Dark, an evening experience with a different menu and mood.
- The brand. Get Your Own Way, a new brand position and campaign for EMEA, giving Subway one consistent voice.
“Guests want to eat their way, on their own schedule, and Blueprint is how we deliver on that,” said Tracy Gehlan, president, Subway EMEA. “We celebrate our guests’ individual choices, from how they order to when they visit to what they want in their meal, always with great food, great service and a great environment. For our franchisees, it means stronger restaurant economics and a stronger brand built for the long term.”
Restaurants designed for today’s guests
Blueprint restaurants are warmer, more modern, digitally connected spaces. Well-organised layouts and clearer information make the experience more intuitive for guests and easier for Sandwich Artists to manage, so they can give their full attention to the food and the guest in front of them.
Choice and freshness take centre stage throughout the design, with salad ingredients, sauces and freshly baked bread showcased at the heart of the restaurant.
Guests choose how they order, with every way designed for a seamless experience and every guest getting the same freedom to build a meal exactly their way.
- At the customisation counter, guests order with a Sandwich Artist, choosing their favourites as they go.
- Self-order kiosks let guests explore the full menu and customise at their own pace.
- Subway app and delivery make ordering favourites from home, work or on the move even simpler.
An order-ready screen shows each order as it is completed, and a clearly marked collection point makes pick-up quick and easy. Cookies and coffee sit within reach for a last-minute craving.
More moments for guests, from morning to evening
As guests’ needs change throughout the day, so does the restaurant, with a menu, mood and experience to match.
Mornings bring a new breakfast range and coffee offer, made with 100% Arabica beans and served the way each guest wants it, with a morning playlist setting the tone.
A new Grab & Go option, available in fast-moving locations such as transport hubs, offers its own menu of meals made fresh in restaurant and ready to take straight away, for the moments when every second counts.
Subway After Dark, now being piloted in the Netherlands, is a whole new dining concept for the evening. At the stroke of six, the lighting warms, an evening playlist takes over, Sandwich Artists pull on dedicated After Dark wardrobe and the digital menu boards reveal a more indulgent, customisable menu. Options include items such as Mac ‘n’ Cheese, footlong pizzas and loaded waffle fries, all made to order, alongside drinks and desserts.
New brand proposition and campaign in EMEA
Blueprint comes to life for guests through Get Your Own Way, a long-term brand platform that celebrates the individual tastes and choices guests have always brought to Subway. It starts from one belief: life’s too short to eat food made for someone else.
Built around real guests and the meals they create, the campaign appears wherever guests meet Subway, from advertising and social content to packaging, the app and the restaurants themselves.
Rollout of Blueprint
The first Blueprint restaurants opened this summer in the Netherlands and the UK, and the Get Your Own Way campaign is now live across EMEA. New occasions, including Subway After Dark and Grab & Go, will roll out based on site and local demand.
The introduction of Blueprint follows a year of positive sales performance and restaurant growth. The brand continues to pursue ambitious expansion, collaborating with strong operators and franchise partners as it looks to nearly double its footprint across EMEA over the next five years*.
