The biggest restaurant company that operates in Burnaby is putting its $1 billion where our mouths are in a new business deal.
Restaurant Brands, which operates Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeyes outlets all across Burnaby has just swallowed up Firehouse Subs – with plans to expand to take on sub giant Subway.
The company said the U.S.-based restaurant, which features hot specialty subs on its menu, is a strong and growing player in the quick service restaurant industry.
Firehouse Subs was founded in Jacksonville, Fla., in 1994 by the firefighter Sorensen brothers.
The sandwich chain has tripled its restaurant footprint to about 1,200 locations since 2010. In the same period, its system-wide sales have quadrupled to an estimated US$1.1 billion expected for 2021, according to Restaurant Brands.
Still, as it looks to expand, Firehouse Sub faces stiff competition from rivals like Subway and Mr. Sub, owned by Montreal-based MTY Food Group Inc.
But Don Fox, CEO of Firehouse Subs, said there are several "key differentiators" that give Firehouse Subs an edge over its competition.
"We specialize in hot subs and we use a very unique process that none of our other major rivals use," he said in an interview. "We use steam to heat the meat and cheese and it does magnificent things with the flavour profile."
The portion sizes also set the restaurant apart, he said.
"We use a quarter pound of protein on our medium subs and half a pound of protein on large subs," Fox said.
The company's locations are largely in suburban areas, which has helped Firehouse Subs recover faster from pandemic restrictions than restaurants that are more heavily concentrated in downtown urban centres and rely on office workers, he said.
Meanwhile, Restaurant Brands said Firehouse Subs benefits from a "strong family of franchisees" who own and operate 97 per cent of the brand's restaurants across 46 U.S. states, Canada and Puerto Rico.
- With additional reporting by the Canadian Press
