Flavor Trailblazer: Paul Fabre

Paul Fabre is the SVP of culinary innovation for Subway, a heritage brand quick serve with close to 37,000 locations worldwide, including about 20,000 in the U.S. With that large of an operation, innovation is both challenging and paramount. We sat down with Fabre to discuss Subway’s recent launches, which sees the brand take big swings, pushing into more meal occasions and responding to modern consumer demand.

Katie Ayoub: What’s your creative process for developing new builds?
Paul Fabre: At Subway, product innovation is about solving a complex puzzle. We have to make sure that it all fits together from a consumer perspective and business perspective, and then figure out how we blend in both culinary trends and our brand values. It’s about balancing familiarity with excitement. We believe that good ideas come from everywhere. How do you get the good idea to spark? For us, it’s about working really closely with our internal partners and our supplier partners. They’re such a big part of our business and there’s great culinary talent from them that we leverage every day.

KA: There’s been a great deal of innovation at Subway recently. What’s driving that?
PF: Over the last few years, we’ve not done a lot of LTOs. Instead, we’ve worked really hard on a big refresh focused on the quality of our brand and the core of our brand, from upgrading our sauces and proteins to introducing new bread—all to really drive craveability.

KA: Let’s talk about the launch of the brand-new Subway Series sandwiches. They showcase those imperatives you just outlined.?
PF: These sandwiches are all about driving flavor and texture, focusing on sweet, spicy, crunchy and cheesy: Honey Mustard BBQ Chicken, Spicy Nacho Chicken and Cheesy Garlic Steak. There’s a focus on meat, and it’s a lot about crunch and texture. They are definitely flavor forward and texture forward—we are targeting more of a forward-leaning consumer base.

KA: Let’s talk about the new SubKrunch.
PF: We don’t have fryers in our restaurants, but people love crunch. So our challenge was: How do we add texture and crunch to a sandwich? Our team worked on developing a crispy topping that’s savory and umami-rich, and that works with all the subs we have on the menu if people choose to add it to their sandwich build. We also wanted to create something unique to us. We think the SubKrunch fits that bill.

KA: Innovating successfully around brand-specific flavors is the brass ring in menu development. The launch of Sidekicks lines up with this goal, too, right?
PF: Subway owns the footlong—we’ve been in sandwiches and footlongs for so long—so how do we create something that people know and love us for? Something that we alone can own? People love snacking; people love dipping. We have 11 signature sauces and our Sidekicks give us a chance to celebrate our great sauce work. We call it, “the dip that hits.” They’re another great way to use Subway outside of getting a sandwich—different dayparts, different occasions.

QUICKFIRE

Where you find inspiration:
I find a lot of inspiration at independents—I think that’s where a lot of the magic happens. I love watching “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” And I also get a lot from my amazing team. They’re way more social-media savvy than I am and really active on our team chat at night—I get blown up with Instagram posts about things I have to check out.

Something in your fridge that would surprise people:
I’m originally from Belgium, and there is a syrup made in Lìege called sirop de Lìege. It’s made with pears, apples and dates, cooked down to a very thick syrup. We add it on crêpes or pancakes or with cheese sometimes.

Your go-to late-night snack:
For savory, it’s salt-and-vinegar pork rinds.

Best bite you’ve had recently:
I went to The Tambourine Room in Miami Beach, Fla., where they did a sourdough rye with brown butter and sea salt. They seared the butter, encasing liquid brown butter as the filling. It was incredible.