Move over Ronald: Subway officially overtakes McDonald's to become biggest restaurant chain in the WORLD

By Daniel Bates
Updated: 13:53 EDT, 9 March 2011

• Subway claimed 33,749 shops in 2010 compared with burger chain's 32,737

Number One: Subway has surpassed McDonald's in stores

Sandwich chain Subway has knocked McDonald’s from its perch as the fast food king, by having more restaurants around the world.

By the end of last year Subway had 33,749 outlets compared with the burger giant’s 33,737, according to industry figures.

The sandwich chain has just opened its first store in Vietnam. Its other outlets include one on a riverboat in Germany, at bowling alleys and even at a church in Buffalo in the U.S.

Britain is following the trend. Subway has become a feature of the high street, and has more than 1,500 outlets across the country compared with 1,197 for McDonald’s.

Subway’s success is attributed to its willingness to open stores in unusual places and its late opening hours, turning the restaurants into what experts say are basically kebab shops for drunken pubgoers.

It is thought consumers are also turning away from junk food and towards what they perceive to be a healthier alternative.

Unlike McDonald’s, whose Big Mac contains 30g of fat, Subway boasts a range of 6in made-to-order filled rolls containing as much as five times less.

Although none of these contain the cheese and sauces which are routinely added by customers, the chain’s reputation as health food has stuck.

The company was founded with $1,000 in 1965 by teenage American entrepreneur Fred DeLuca in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

End of an era: A McDonald's restaurant in Oldbury, West Midlands - one of more than 32,000 around the world

Start of a journey: The first McDonald's in Des Plaines, Illinois in the 1950s

FROM HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE TO RULER OF FOOD EMPIRE

Subway was founded in 1965 when Fred DeLuca was 17 years old and straight out of high school. He came up with the idea as a way to pay for his university tuition.

A family friend Dr Peter Buck gave him a $1,000 loan to start Pete's Super Submarines in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The partners opened their second shop a year later and soon realised that a good location and highly visible shop was the key to success - giving rise to the famous yellow and green logo.

The name was also shortened from Pete's Super Submarines to Subway. DeLuca and Buck began franchising their shop, the first one opening in 1974.

The spread of the restaurants across the globe only really began at the end of the 1990s.

Another secret ingredient of its success is the perceived health benefits of the sandwiches.

Unlike McDonald's, whose Big Mac (pictured above) contains 30g of fat, Subway boast a host of 6in subs containing five times less.

Although none of these contain the cheese and sauces routinely added by customers, the reputation as a health food has stuck.

So much so, the lunchtime treats have spawned the Subway diet, with a growing number of adherents claiming to have shed several pounds by eating only the firm's sandwiches, such as the Veggie Deluxe (pictured below).

It launched in the UK in Brighton in 1996 and grew slowly at first, as its concept took time to catch on.

But by 2005 Subway’s franchisees had a total of 300 British stores, partly thanks to clever financing plans which enable them to sign up and fit out their stores relatively cheaply.

It has faced criticism however for allowing its restaurants to open until late at night and for offering calorie-packed sandwiches and fattier snacks such as cheese toasties.

The turnaround will be a blow to McDonald’s, which has in the past bragged about having served 99billion meals since it opened its first store in 1940.

In recent years however it shifted to a more personalised approach and introduced ‘healthier’ options on the menu such as salads in an attempt to lure in customers.

Whilst the new figures show that Subway does have more stores, it is still nowhere near as profitable as McDonald’s, which generated £15billion revenue last year, compared with Subway’s £9billion.

In a statement the sandwich chain said its success was down to it being ‘on a great run’. Spokesman Les Winograd said: ‘It’s a feeling of accomplishment, for sure, but we didn’t set out to surpass anyone in particular.’

McDonald’s had to disclose its store count in filings to the U.S. financial regulators late last month.

Its spokesman said: ‘We remain focused on listening to and serving our customers, and are committed to being better, not just bigger.’

'We overcame them at some point in 2010. One year ago, we were slightly behind,' Winograd said today.

Last year was actually pretty average for us, growth-wise. We aim to open between 1,000 and 2,000 locations globally each year,’ he added.

Subway chalks up its success partially to its private ownership, meaning that it’s not listed on the stock market.

Winograd said: 'That is our choice, and the reason for that is that it enables us to focus on the product, the quality, the restaurants and not on the other things associated with a public company, like financial statements.'

The company’s growth has been widespread across Asia, where it now can boast of over 1,000 sandwich shops. They recently opened their first shop in Vietnam.

And if you’re starting to feel like you’re seeing Subways just about everywhere, you are.

The company’s success can be accredited to its placement of shops in just about any place a customer might want a sandwich. 

It also offers sandwiches with as little as 2.6 grammes of fat - a real plus in a an increasingly health conscious age.

Subway was founded in 1965 by 17-year-old Fred De Luca in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The restaurant was an instant hit, grew steadily, and went international in 1984 with its first location abroad in Bahrain.

McDonald's began outside of Chicago in 1955 and grew to international dominance, becoming a staple of American culture abroad and a symbol of capitalism. .

McDonald's representative Heidi Barker responded to the news of Subways new found dominance by suggesting that the burger restaurant – famous for its ‘over 1 billion served’ signs – is interested in quality over quantity.