37% Would Never Get This Bread At Subway

For many Subway fans, part of what makes it so delicious is being able order a sandwich exactly how you want, to the tune of 37 million sandwich variations (via Huffpost). Part of that customization includes choosing the type of bread you want to hold all those protein and veggie goodies in. Whether you prefer a six-inch or a classic footlong, customers have a choice of several different types of breads, baked fresh in the store, and responsible for their signature smell.

However, not all breads are created equal, just as not all breads are equally liked. We recently polled 595 Subway sandwich eaters in the U.S. to find out what's the one bread they would never order at the sandwich chain, and the response was pretty conclusive. A whopping 37% of the respondents replied that they would never get the jalapeño cheese. The next least liked bread, the flatbread, trailed at 18%. The 9-grain wheat and the multi-grain flatbread were roughly tied at around 15%. The most popular bread option was the classic Italian, with less than 6% of respondents saying they would never order it, followed by the Italian herb and cheese at 8%.

The jalapeño cheese bread used to be a popular option. In fact, it was a top performer in a national consumer taste test when it was launched back in 2014 (via QSR). QSR quoted Mark Christiano, Subway baking specialist as saying, "The mouth-watering jalapeño cheddar flavor profile serves as the perfect pairing to any of our sandwiches." The chain then tweaked the recipe for the bread, which it reintroduced in 2018 (via Huffpost). Change isn't always good and perhaps that is the case with this spicy bread. What was once a customer favorite is now a customer nope, if our survey is anything to go by.

Subway recently announced massive menu changes as part of its "Eat Fresh Refresh" campaign, which according to a statement issued through PR Newswire, includes two new breads, an artisan Italian and hearty multigrain. As per the menu on their website, the jalapeño cheese bread may still be available at select Subway restaurants. But perhaps Subway should have also done something with this type of bread — either bring back the original recipe, or get rid of it entirely.