Chopped for Success – Launching Jersey Mike's Salad Platform
Core Menu Innovation, Culinary Development, Operations Strategy, Research & Testing, Marketing, CommunicationsTo capture health-conscious diners and solve the “family no-vote” dilemma, Ajnci partnered with Jersey Mike's to design, develop, and launch a new Chopped Salad and Parmesan Crusted Crouton platform. By creatively repurposing the brand's existing sandwich ingredients into a highly visual, craveable bowl format, this project successfully delivered a fresh menu alternative that expanded daypart reach and seamlessly integrated into the fast-paced restaurant environment without disrupting current operations.
CHALLENGE
Jersey Mike’s needed to evolve its menu to appeal to a wider demographic, specifically targeting women aged 25-34 who were actively seeking healthier, lighter meal options. However, integrating a fresh salad line into a high-volume sub shop presented serious operational roadblocks. Franchisees voiced immediate concerns regarding whole heads of lettuce browning, inconsistent portion controls, and a lack of cooler storage space during peak lunch rushes. The primary ask from the client was to engineer a compelling, profitable new menu category that avoided the introduction of complex new SKUs, averted the need for expensive new kitchen equipment, and maintained the speed of service.
RESULTS
Ajnci’s strategic approach culminated in a highly successful 60-day in-store pilot across 115 locations in the Minneapolis and Dallas markets, proving that a robust salad platform could function as a highly profitable, long-term growth category. Leveraging our expertise in menu innovation and operational design, we helped the brand move more than 6,700 salads during the test window, generating over $83,000 in direct sales. The Dallas market alone drove $36,030 in Wedge sales and $21,488 in Garden Caesar sales, while Minneapolis contributed $14,858 and $10,830 respectively. By solving the operational bottleneck through the repurposing of existing SKUs and the creation of in-house croutons, the project not only drove increased check averages through strategic add-ons but also successfully expanded the brand's reach to lighter-meal seekers, delivering a scalable framework for national expansion.
Jersey Mike's Subs is a rapidly growing, premier fast-casual sandwich franchise with over 3,200 locations across North America. Founded in 1956, the brand has cultivated a fiercely loyal customer base and is famous for its authentic, fresh-sliced, and fresh-grilled submarine sandwiches.
APPROACH
CULINARY
Working strictly within the constraints of the existing pantry to avoid new SKUs, our culinary team developed two highly visual, signature salad builds: "The Wedge," featuring crunchy bacon and blue cheese, and the "Garden Caesar," topped with banana peppers and parmesan. To create a proprietary crunch factor, we developed a recipe for in-house Parmesan Crusted Croutons, which ingeniously transformed day-old white sub bread, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and signature spices into a premium, profitable add-on that baked to a visually appealing crispy brown.
APPROACH
OPERATIONS
To guarantee flawless execution behind the counter, we authored a comprehensive Operations Playbook detailing portioning standards and prep procedures. We introduced a simple yet highly effective new operational step: utilizing a secondary dough cutter/scraper to chop fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and onions directly on the existing sprinkling board. This ensured that the vibrant, fresh ingredients were prepared to order right in front of the customer, reinforcing the brand's commitment to freshness without requiring expensive new equipment.
APPROACH
DISPLAY
We engineered an optimized spatial layout for the sandwich line to house the newly introduced tools without disrupting the existing workflow. We sourced and designed a custom 7"x3" metal "Side Car" that easily attaches to the main 24"x5" sprinkling board trough, providing a dedicated, sanitary storage space for the chopper and scraper. Visuals will include clean, architectural diagrams of the "Cutter & Scraper Placement," clearly mapping out where the tools live whether the meat slicer is positioned on the left or right of the line.
APPROACH
TESTING
We orchestrated a rigorous 60-day market test across 115 carefully selected locations throughout Minneapolis and Dallas. By intentionally limiting the initial rollout to these specific markets, we were able to maintain tightly controlled store counts, closely monitor consistency in salad builds, track the redemption of trial coupons, and accurately gauge genuine customer interest before recommending a full national scale-up.
Throughout the testing phase, our team established active feedback loops, conducting evaluations to gather real-time insights from franchisees, managers, and crew members. We utilized this data to make crucial mid-test discoveries—such as the need to allow franchisees to adjust price points competitively, and the insight that proactive, highly visible sampling of the new croutons was essential for driving initial trial during lunch rushes.
APPROACH
MARKETING
We positioned the salads as fresh, craveable, and highly customizable to directly appeal to health-conscious consumers. To ensure the launch looked as good as it tasted, we developed a cohesive suite of visual assets including engaging menu board panels, sneezeguard clings, and custom branded crouton bag stickers. The campaign was further supported by grassroots coupon distribution—providing 200 free trial cards per store—alongside targeted email marketing and social media highlighting mouth-watering hero images of the salads.
APPROACH
COMMUNICATION
Recognizing that internal buy-in was critical for a smooth rollout, we orchestrated a multi-tiered communications strategy. We hosted live, interactive online training sessions via Zoom, scheduled targeted in-store engagement visits, and developed a centralized online Knowledge Base portal. This portal hosted step-by-step training videos and FAQs, ensuring all staff had immediate visual and textual context to flawlessly execute the new platform. We also coordinated the auto-shipment of new salad dressings to seamlessly align all test locations from day one.