Sandwich Growth Opportunities
Although 96% of c-stores and 99% of all non-commercial operators (including nursing homes and long-term care) already offer sandwiches in their operations, it is still considered the menu item with the greatest sales growth potential in the year to come. Sandwiches tied with breakfast items among c-store retailers.
| Channel | Percent reporting strong growth expectations |
| Convenience store | 54% |
| College & university | 32% |
| Hospital | 34% |
Source: FARE 2014 State of Foodservice Study
Sausage Menu Prevalence, Growth Expectations
Encased and enrobed meats are quite prevalent in c-stores; they’re also served at the vast majority of non-commercial outlets surveyed in the study. With QSR/fast-casual chains tending to focus on a particular menu category—pizza, sandwiches—it’s not surprising their numbers are comparatively low. Some may consider that an untapped opportunity, but not the participants of this study.
| Channel | Percent offering | Percent reporting strong growth expectations |
| Convenience store | 85% | 18% |
| QSR/Fast casual | 28% | 0% |
| College & university | 92% | 1% |
| Hospital | 86% | 0% |
Source: FARE 2014 State of Foodservice Study
Sausage Service Style
Non-commercial is largely split between cooking encased meats to order and hot-holding such items, though most prefer crew service. The majority of c-stores provide self-serve roller grills, but a notable 19% provide the menu items crew-served from other holding equipment.
How do you offer encased food items such as sausages and hot dogs in your operations?
| Convenience store | QSR/Fast casual | College & university | Hospital | |
| Crew-serve, grilled/cooked to order | 11% | 28% | 52% | 43% |
| Crew-serve, from other holding equipment besides roller grill | 19% | 9% | 44% | 51% |
| Self-serve, from roller grill | 62% | 0% | 14% | 7% |
| Crew-serve, from roller grill | 9% | 0% | 11% | 7% |
| Do not off er encased food items | 15% | 64% | 6% | 12% |
Source: FARE 2014 State of Foodservice Study
Sandwich Service Style
The majority of c-stores offer grab-and-go cold sandwiches, followed by grab-and-go hot options. Grab-and-go cold offerings are prevalent in hospitals as well, while made-to-order is the most common style in restaurants and C&U.
How do you offer sandwiches in your operations?
| Convenience store | QSR/Fast casual | College & university | Hospital | |
| Made to order | 44% | 94% | 93% | 88% |
| Prepackaged, customer takes from cooler | 85% | 2% | 72% | 64% |
| Prepackaged, customer takes from hot-holding case | 54% | 0% | 21% | 25% |
| Prepackaged, customer takes from freezer | 15% | 0% | 11% | 2% |
| Do not offer sandwiches | 4% | 6% | 0% | 0% |
Source: FARE 2014 State of Foodservice Study
NEXT: Top Sandwich Ingredients
Top Sandwich Ingredients
Percent of menus offering
The following data from Food Genius reveals the most common sandwich types and ingredients across what the research firm categorizes as quick-service, fast-food, fast-casual, quick-casual and family-dining segments. Of the 87,000 unique menus that Food Genius tracks, 85,000 come from independent operations, hence the close alignment between the overall percentages and the independent percentages.
| Type | Overall | Chain | Independent |
| Styles | |||
| Club | 28% | 40% | 28% |
| Submarine | 27% | 31% | 27% |
| BLT | 27% | 29% | 27% |
| Cheesesteak | 19% | 20% | 19% |
| Sandwich Wrap | 19% | 25% | 19% |
| Reuben | 15% | 16% | 15% |
| Hoagie | 9% | 11% | 9% |
| French dip | 5% | 9% | 5% |
| Breakfast | 3% | 4% | 3% |
| Cuban | 2% | 3% | 2% |
| Breads | |||
| Bread roll | 24% | 41% | 24% |
| Bun | 14% | 30% | 14% |
| Pita | 12% | 10% | 12% |
| Rye bread | 9% | 11% | 9% |
| Toast | 8% | 9% | 8% |
| Kaiser roll | 6% | 8% | 6% |
| Ciabatta | 5% | 14% | 5% |
| Bagel | 5% | 6% | 5% |
| Croissant | 5% | 6% | 5% |
| Baguette | 5% | 7% | 5% |
| Focaccia | 4% | 6% | 4% |
| Hoagie roll | 4% | 8% | 4% |
| White bread | 3% | 4% | 3% |
| French bread | 3% | 5% | 3% |
| English muffin | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Proteins | |||
| Chicken | 81% | 88% | 81% |
| Pork | 72% | 78% | 72% |
| Beef | 70% | 70% | 70% |
| Seafood | 58% | 60% | 58% |
| Turkey | 56% | 59% | 56% |
| Ham | 55% | 57% | 55% |
| Bacon | 52% | 65% | 51% |
| Fish | 52% | 55% | 52% |
| Steak | 42% | 44% | 41% |
| Sausage | 40% | 43% | 40% |
| Cheeses | |||
| Swiss cheese | 37% | 42% | 37% |
| Provolone | 29% | 36% | 29% |
| Mozzarella | 29% | 32% | 29% |
| Cheddar | 28% | 44% | 28% |
| Parmesan | 21% | 32% | 21% |
| American | 21% | 27% | 21% |
| Feta | 11% | 13% | 11% |
| Blue | 11% | 16% | 11% |
| Fresh mozzarella | 11% | 10% | 11% |
| Pepperjack | 7% | 13% | 7% |
| Sauces | |||
| Mayonnaise | 42% | 57% | 42% |
| Salad dressing | 38% | 56% | 38% |
| Mustard | 27% | 41% | 26% |
| Ranch dressing | 17% | 35% | 16% |
| Barbecue sauce | 13% | 25% | 13% |
| Honey mustard | 13% | 20% | 13% |
| Caesar dressing | 12% | 19% | 12% |
| Pesto | 11% | 20% | 11% |
| Hot sauce | 11% | 16% | 11% |
| Marinara sauce | 11% | 18% | 10% |
Source: Food Genius, first quarter 2014
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