It has its own day. The first time that day rolled around in 1992, it was commemorated with a 500-foot-long hoagie outside city hall. It was, on that day, named the “official sandwich of Philadelphia.”
That’s a very big deal for a sandwich.
The Wawa hoagie is the epitome of everything a convenience store sandwich can be. Its Classic variety is available, with one topping or another, in 1.683 trillion different combinations. In a year, the retailer uses the equivalent of nine Boeing 747s worth of cheese (in tons). Enough Classic hoagies are purchased and consumed in one year to fill 100 football fields.
“Our customers want quality products that are prepared consistently and delivered in a fast and friendly manner. It makes our customers happy when they can go to any Wawa and get their favorite product, just like they remember it ,” says Amanda Matyok, brand manager for p.m. foodservice at Wawa.
The sandwich has a solid profile in the total foodservice sphere. According to a report prepared by Food Genius, in which the Chicago-based firm tracks menu-level data from 314,000 operators, 77% of those menus feature the sandwich.
According to the Culinary Visions Panel, a Chicago-based foodservice research firm, deli-style sandwiches account for 32% of foodservice orders in the c-store. Roller grill comes in ahead of sandwiches at 54%; pizza is ordered approximately 29% of the time. Chicago-based Technomic reports that cold sandwiches own 40% share of hand-held sales, with hot dogs accounting for 25% and hamburgers 5%.
It doesn’t take scale to succeed with making and selling sandwiches. Independent owner and operator Scott Zaremba is creating his own brand.
Zaremba, who runs seven Zarco 66 convenience locations in Lawrence, Kan., as well as three (soon to be four) Sandbar Sub Shops, says his stores bake their bread on site and try to buy local produce for toppings when in season.
“We’re changing what you would typically see in the industry to something fresher,” Zaremba says.
Sandbar Subs began development three years ago, and it’s currently in three locations. The concept began as a single, stand-alone operation, then moved into Zaremba’s Zarco 66 c-stores. The company is opening another stand-alone outlet, next to a Zarco 66, this spring. The menu has 15 varieties, including High Seas Tuna Salad and Turkey Catamaran. Sandbar uses touch-screen technology for in-store ordering, or online ordering for pickup. Zaremba also has plans for at-the-pump ordering.
Even as both Wawa and Sandbar Subs are made fresh to order, the companies are sensitive to the theater. Sandbar Subs proofs and bakes its bread fresh in every store, and Wawa just began baking rolls in its stores in December.
Freshness Factor
It’s the stereotype in the room: C-stores don’t stock fresh, appetizing food. This assessment has obviously been challenged, but it’s been an uphill battle to shake it, especially for prepackaged, ready-made varieties. To that end, several distributors have upgraded their offering and are working with operators to bolster the sensory appeal of their fresh program.
“In the world of fresh, stale products are commonly associated with both food on the shelf as well as the assortment itself,” says Hope LaGrone, product director for McLane Co., Temple, Texas. “Therefore, we strive to stay at the forefront of consumer insights and product innovation.”
McLane’s Fresh on the Go program “covers both ends of the sandwich spectrum,” LaGrone says. The company’s assortment includes commissary-style, handmade, hand-wrapped fresh sandwiches, never-frozen modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) as well as flash-frozen thaw-and-serve varieties.
McLane jumped into the fresh foodservice space in 2008 with its Fresh on the Go program, which includes an “evolving mix” of products, equipment, POS materials and training resources.
“[McLane works with] individual retailers with broad assortments adorning multiple open-air coolers, grills and warmers per store, to operators with a more modest but exceptionally thoughtful and premium selection,” LaGrone says. “These retailers can be found in or adjacent to college campuses, downtown skyscrapers, interstate travel centers and oceanfront resort communities.”
Putting It Together
The Food Genius analysis found that 55% of foodservice menus, on average, belong to entrée items. But specifically, 83% of sandwiches are entrées. Sandwiches also make up 5% of side/add-on dishes, 3% of appetizers and 7% of breakfast items.
Arriving at the point where that much of your menu is devoted to the sandwich takes time; a lot of work goes into developing the perfect sandwich. At Wawa, the process begins with a good idea, then launches into a rigid process.
“Once we have decided that we’re going to work on a project, we’re very process-oriented,” Matyok says. “Part of the process is that [for] every product we are potentially going to work on, goes through a sensory evaluation. We have a few hundred associates at headquarters that will have the opportunity to be a part of the sensory process. They help us understand if the project is worth pursuing and if it needs tweaks,” she says.
So what’s working? Wawa will add wheat rolls to the fresh-baked-bread roster this month, along with a new Tuscan Turkey hoagie.
“We see spicier and bolder flavors becoming popular with our customers,” Matyok says. “We’re keeping that in mind when we work on new projects.”
Give Them What They Want
“Across that [sandwich] spectrum, there are a number of delightfully innovative flavor profiles sourced in artisan breads, shaved meats and chef-inspired spreads,” McLane’s LaGrone says. “Nevertheless, the core items still tend to drive category sales, with turkey/cheese or ham/cheese being the top two sellers.”
Wawa’s biggest sellers include the turkey meatball hoagie, which retails for $4.79. And when Thanksgiving rolls around, hoagie makers at Wawa make a lot of Gobbler hoagies: hot turkey in gravy with stuffing and cranberry sauce. “They wait for it to return in the fall and they get really excited about it.”
At Sandbar, the most popular sandwich is Jimmy the Sailor: savory turkey, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato and homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. It retails for $5.25. Also popular is the Cyclone, a sandwich with chicken and a spicy cream cheese dip.
A successful foodservice program can have any number of secret ingredients. For Wawa, Matyok says it’s pretty simple: They love making hoagies. “We think the secret ingredient is that our friendly associates build each hoagie with care. That’s our secret ingredient,” she says. “That’s what keeps our customers coming back.”
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