Subway: Food for thought

by Yu See
(Singapore )

There is a subway on the road opposite my house. The sign is light yellow and white in colour. Once you step in, you'll see a set of bar chairs to your left and a set of comfortable sofa-chairs in front of you.as you walk past the bar chairs, you'll also see a set of seats.

Eventually, you need to order some sandwiches. At the counter, there's a pamphlet which informs you what type of bread there is. Choose your bread and decide if you want to get a six-inch or a footlong.

After that choose the types of combination you want or make your own combination. Thirdly, you'll have to wait for the bread to come out of the oven. After that, choose the type of vegetables and sauces you would like to have. Decide if you want a set meal or just the sub. Pay and leave the store.

The Subway System Versus The Golden Arch

This system, however, may not necessarily be efficient. Subway only has two to three people manning their store during one shaft. During peak hours, when there's a boatload of customers, they might not be able to manage. Let’s compare this to another popular fast food restaurant, Mcdonalds.

Mcdonalds definitely has more staff than Subway, but it doesn't have good staff distribution. Although they have two counters, there's only one staff manning the counters during non-peak hours. During peak hours, there's nobody there as all staff are focused on the preparation of food.

Even when the staff scramble by, Its almost always not for more than five minutes per time. I’m not criticising these two restaurants, I'm just pointing out what they can work on. For the record, I know it must be hard to manage a store and think about staff distribution so no hate there. Just my opinion.

Is Subway Really Healthy?

There are actually nearly 38 million combinations you can get in Subway. While that might sound appetizing, for those who crave healthy food, you're about to be sorely disappointed. In my own opinion, I feel that Subway is just like every single greasy fast food joint out there. They may boast of being healthy and good for you, but you never know what they're hiding behind that facade of theirs.

They could be adding preservatives, fats, greasy oils and all sorts of ‘delightful’ surprises. Frankly, although I do enjoy Subways food, I feel that there is a lot they aren't telling you. I could be wrong, but this is my personal opinion on things.