Back in 2006, Subway expanded its offerings by opening several locations that were fully kosher. The fast food chain announced in a press release that the restaurant's kosher locations would have only "slight modifications, such as no pork-based products such as bacon or ham, and the use of soy-based cheese." Eventually, the United States saw the opening of 15 kosher Subway sites, including spots in California, Ohio, Florida, Maryland, and New York.
Unfortunately, Subway's kosher experiment didn't last. Despite the fanfare around them at the time, just five years later, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2011 that 10 of the 15 kosher Subways had closed. By 2017, YeahThatsKosher.
com claimed that only two of those five were still in operation. Those final two kosher Subways have now also closed at the time of this writing. A host of challenges and a lack of additional support meant that the kosher Subway franchises just weren't sustainable.
Higher costs proved a challenge for kosher Subways The wealth of requirements necessary to be a 100% kosher restaurant drove the costs up across the board for the kosher Subways. Removing all ham and bacon from the traditional Subway menu might seem like a challenge, but all other meats needed to be certified kosher , too. That meant the sourcing cost for other ingredients for the kosher Subways was higher.
Additionally, the laws of keeping kosher don't just apply to the food itself. There are also aspects of the business that must be opera.
