Create Upscale Sandwiches, Increase Sales

Create Gourmet Sandwiches, Increase Sales

Is there anything more perfect for takeout? A well-built sandwich is a movable feast. It offers an experience that eats like a carefully composed plate of food in every handheld bite. But more than portable, sandwiches are also:

Versatile — not just for lunch, but also breakfast, dinner, snacks, or after hours.
Affordable, especially compared to other complete meals.
Adaptable to food and flavor trends.
Operationally easy, with exciting potential for ingredient cross-utilization.
Nearly universally popular with customers.

Small wonder that so many operators upped their sandwich game during and since the pandemic. In the process of pivoting to takeout or optimizing their menus for off-premises dining, they created new signatures — and brought wider awareness of specialty, gourmet sandwiches to their fans.

An Exciting New World of Gourmet Sandwiches

New attention-grabbing sandwiches beckon, including:

Nashville Hot Chicken – One of several trendsetting fried chicken sandwiches. This one consists of spicy marinated and fried chicken on a bun or plain white bread, cooled with coleslaw, lettuce, and/or pickle chips.

Katsu Sando – Staples in Japanese convenience stores, now also popular upscale sandwiches. These are essentially fried pork or chicken cutlet sandwiches, assembled with Japanese milk bread and slightly sweet katsu sauce.

Premium Breakfast Sandwich – There’s high demand for convenience and better sandwich experiences. As a result, this morning mainstay is becoming both more popular and more creative, from the breads to the proteins.

Muffaletta – New Orleans gave birth to this powerhouse combination of Italian cold cuts and garlicky olive salad on round, seeded Sicilian-style bread. Ingredients such as capicola, mortadella, and provolone make this sandwich sing.

Lobster Roll – Interest in regional cuisine has spurred the popularity of this split-top hot dog roll filled with sweet lobster meat, mayo, and the (much-debated) bit of chopped celery. “Ultimate” versions feature even more ingredients.

Tartine – A natural extension of the avocado toast trend, these open-faced, French-style sandwiches are topped with many delicious options. You can try everything from fig, bacon, and Brie to smoked salmon with ricotta cheese and capers.

Piadina – Also called a piada, you can think of this griddled flatbread sandwich as a distinctly Italian quesadilla. They spotlight cheese and can utilize a wide variety of delicious ingredients, from spinach-artichoke dip to grilled shrimp.

Shawarma – Pita traditionally filled with thinly shaved lamb, beef, or chicken, with a dressing of tahini or hummus. This pita platform can also host vegan versions based on vegetables or tofu.

Upgraded BLTs – The tomato might be the only constant in the creative builds on the BLT. You can add ingredients like fried eggs, avocado, buttermilk ranch dressing, arugula, roasted vegetables, and more.

Bao and Jianbing – You can fill these traditional Chinese street foods, steamed buns and crepes respectively, with an inspired selection of flavorful ingredients. Think barbecued pork, pastrami, sweet potatoes, and chopped mustard greens.

^{The information provided is based on a general industry overview, and is not specific to your business operation. Each business is unique and decisions related to your business should be made after consultation with appropriate experts.}

Quick-And-Easy Gourmet Sandwich Recipes to Try

Create a condiment for upscale sandwiches by mixing mayonnaise, sour cream, softened butter, or mustard with a Minor’s® flavor concentrate.

Highlight a distinctive bread, such as Montreal-style bagels or artisanal multigrain bread, by creating a selection of gourmet sandwiches around it.

Offer a premium sandwich special-of-the-day — and then promote it on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or TikTok.

There are dozens of gourmet sandwich recipes to try out: happy experimenting!