This year SUBWAY® expects to open its 28,000th restaurant worldwide, cementing this brand not only as one of the largest restaurant chains in the world, but also earning it first place in US magazine Entrepreneur's 'Franchise 500' rankings for an incredible 15th time in the last 20 years. The SUBWAY® quick-service restaurant menu of sandwiches and salads has seen it capitalise on the growing trend towards healthier menus and now the brand operates franchised networks of sandwich bars in 86 countries.

While much of its growth has taken place in the USA and Canada, where its network has surpassed its nearest rival McDonald's, the SUBWAY® chain also has over 4,500 restaurants outside North America and is focused on developing its international networks through multiple franchise agreements. "The SUBWAY® concept offers low start up costs, ease of operation and healthier menu options," says the company. "Worldwide, the company has set a goal of opening 7,500 restaurants outside of the United States and Canada by the year 2010."

1,700 of these are located in Europe, with many European markets having well-developed networks, such as Ireland with over 60 SUBWAY® restaurant locations, Germany with over 450 and the UK with over 900. In total, SUBWAY® restaurants operate in 24 European countries including France, Greece, Hungary, Portugal and most recently Slovenia, and the SUBWAY® chain recognises that the European market is very important. In 2002 the company opened a European headquarters in Amsterdam to manage growth and oversee operations in the region, and by 2010 the company's target is to have opened 4,000 restaurants across Europe. Elsewhere, the brand's leading market outside North America is Australia and New Zealand, where it has also overtaken McDonald's and has over 1,200 outlets trading.

The concept has also lent itself to non-traditional sites, with over 6,400 restaurants located in non-high street locations such as supermarkets, hospitals, university campuses and petrol stations. "In fact, SUBWAY® sandwich shops have opened in some very unique venues such as an aluminium smelting plant in New Zealand, a car wash in Toronto, a Lexus showroom in California and even a church in Buffalo, New York, which is operated by the church to help provide job skills to underprivileged youth in the community," reports the company, which recognises the benefits of such launches: "More opportunities are being created for entrepreneurs to get into the SUBWAY® system, while additional consumers are being exposed to the brand."

The SUBWAY® sandwich chain has also explored other non-traditional routes, such as establishing kosher and halal locations. "SUBWAY® took steps to reach out to consumer groups who traditionally do not visit fast food establishments due to religious and cultural dietary preferences," reveals Fred DeLuca, who co-founded SUBWAY® with Dr Peter Buck in 1965. "The way we do it is by giving franchisees a fair amount of authority to go forth and get things done and then watching what they are doing and teaching others."

This attitude to its relationships with franchisees has enabled the SUBWAY® chain to attract a large amount of multi-unit franchisees. In fact, Don Fertman, SUBWAY® Director of Development, reports that 70 per cent of new SUBWAY® franchises are purchased by existing SUBWAY® franchisees. He reflects: "Once a franchisee has a taste of the business, they often come back for more."