Meat + Poultry - May 2008 - 36

Photo courtesy of Jimmy John's

DELI-BASED EATERIES

On the other extreme, another trend
Kane points to is "double-stuffed" subs,
such as "the Feast," which includes turkey,
ham, roast beef, salami and pepperoni.
But perhaps the most significant
trend at Subway is people creating
their own sandwiches, instead of ordering from a set menu. "They order
the sandwich and customize it exactly
as they want to have it," Kane says.
"And they do this by taking into consideration their dietary or flavor needs.
We figure that our role at the restaurant
is to provide choices for our customers.
And the customers seem to appreciate
that," he says. He too, points to chicken
and tuna as big sellers at the restaurant.
Products that never seem to lose their
appeal are turkey sandwiches. "There
are actually several reasons for that,"
Kane points out. "Sometimes turkey
sandwiches are ordered as a low-fat
option, some with other meats added, some with sauces and some with
other variations. It is such a versatile
item - turkey seems to lend itself to a
lot of customization, with other components, while still carrying its own
as far as flavor goes."

Focused on fresh
Jimmy John's was established in 1983
in Charleston, Ill. Now based in Champaign, Ill., it has turned into a national
chain of 627 franchise stores. But it was
started and is still owned by then-19year-old Jimmy John Liautaud. Jimmy
38

MEAT&POULTRY

May 2008

did this by checking out a number of
cookbooks from his local library and
creating four sandwiches and tested
them out on family and friends. He
began the restaurant by making do
with used equipment - a refrigerator,
chest freezer, oven and meat slicer in
a converted garage. He promoted his
business by taking to the streets, giving
away armfuls of free sandwiches. By
the end of 2008, the company expects
that more than
160 additional
franchise restaurants will
be operating.
"Our main
fo c u s i s on
freshness," the
owner says, "Our bread is baked inhouse every day and served fresh. We
use real turkey and real roast beef, with
no additives or vegetable-based fillers.
Nothing is delivered to our stores presliced. We use real mayonnaise, real
grey poupon, olive oil and red-wine
vinegar with our sandwiches.
"Our meat is sliced to different sizes
because animals are not grown to one
size," he says. "Until farmers learn to
grow the same size pig every time, every ham will be a different size. They
then are cooked and sliced accordingly.
People think fresh veggies come from
a big factory where vegetables are presliced, sprayed with chemicals, packed
in a bag that is injected with CO2. Typ-

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ically, those kinds of vegetables are a
week old before they are even delivered by the distributor to the restaurant. Unfortunately, in today's fast-food
world, the words 'fresh' and 'gourmet'
have been used so much that consumers don't really know anymore what
they mean."
Liautaud adds, "We don't take turkey
meat from the breast bone, put it into a
giant mixer and mix it with fillers that
bind the meat, which then ends up being cooked and sliced by a computeroperated slicing machine. Instead, my
turkeys are fresh, boneless turkey breasts
that are seasoned with salt, baked fresh
and sliced fresh every day. They are all
different sizes because farmers haven't
learned to grow equal-size turkeys yet,"
the owner of Jimmy John's says.
Liautaud says
the fresh meats
used i n t hei r
sandwiches, include applewood
smoked ham, medium-rare shaved
Liautaud
roast beef, freshsliced turkey breast, Genoa salami, provolone and capicola. "We even offer a
vegetarian sub, BLTs and "slim subs"
without vegetables and sauce."
He notes that traditional sandwich
lines, like club sandwiches, are still very
popular after all these years. "We have
a whole line of these, including quarterpound applewood smoked ham, roast
beef, provolone, Genoa salami, Italian
capicola, medium rare roast beef, fresh
sliced turkey breast and bacon.
Some products have lost their appeal
and have been replaced by others. "Peoples' tastes change and with the Internet
out there, people are aware of more options that are available to them," Jimmy
John Liautaud says.
Bernard Shire is M&P's Washington correspondent
based in Lancaster, Pa. With a background in editing and writing for daily news publications, he also
works as a food safety consultant and writer for Shire
& Associates.
We would like to hear from you - to comment on
this story or to request reprints, contact us by
e-mail at: meatpoultry@sosland.com.

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Meat + Poultry - May 2008

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