Strategic Sauces: Turning Up the Heat for Jersey Mike’s
LTO Menu Expansion, Product Launch, Culinary Innovation, Operations Logistics, Marketing Strategy, Internal CommunicationsTo drive summer sales and excite a loyal customer base, Ajnci partnered with Jersey Mike's to craft an end-to-end launch strategy for a bold, craveable menu addition. We developed and introduced two new signature flavors—the Smoky Southwestern Cheese Steak and the Salsa Verde Chicken Cheese Steak—transforming classic menu staples into a premium, customizable experience that significantly boosted visit frequency and established a highly profitable, long-term innovation pipeline for the brand.
CHALLENGE
Jersey Mike's wanted to introduce bold new flavor profiles to increase customer visit frequency, but any new addition needed to seamlessly fit into their highly efficient existing kitchen workflows. The primary challenge was to create an LTO that felt premium and customizable to the consumer, while remaining operationally simple and fast for team members on the grill. Furthermore, the rollout required a flawless integration across their supply chains, franchisee pricing systems, and nationwide marketing channels.
RESULTS
The Smoky & Spicy Cheese Steaks campaign was a resounding operational and commercial success, generating $23 million in incremental sales overall. The massive appeal of the new flavors was further proven when stores saw a significant drop-off in sales once the menu item was pulled at the end of the LTO. By leveraging Ajnci’s expertise in flavor variety and strategic integration, the introduction of these complex signature sauces elevated consumer perception, successfully positioning the sandwiches as a more premium dining option. Ultimately, our work solved the brand's core challenge by establishing a scalable innovation pipeline for future rotating flavors, turning proprietary sauces into a powerful lever for brand differentiation, operational flexibility, and sustainable long-term growth.
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
Ajnci’s culinary focus centered on developing two distinct, craveable profiles built seamlessly upon Jersey Mike's standard Beef and Chicken Philly recipes. For the Smoky Southwest Sauce, we crafted a complex, creamy dressing loaded with fire-roasted peppers and onions with notes of bright acidity, which is applied neatly in three visual rows to the inside lid of the sub bread. For the Salsa Verde, we charred French green jalapeños and tomatillos to create a fresh, savory salsa that is purposefully mixed directly into the chicken while it cooks on the grill, an intentional technique designed to bring out and amplify the spices.
APPROACH
OPERATIONS
To guarantee operational simplicity across thousands of franchise locations, we partnered closely with the supply chain to scale the sauce recipes and engineer streamlined kitchen procedures. We designed highly visual, step-by-step 'Play Sheets' and training graphics to be posted directly in the prep and grill areas, illustrating everything from tempering the bread to the exact grilling and mixing techniques. To ensure back-of-house organization and provide visual context for the prep teams, we included custom, color-coded stickers for the squeeze bottles (blue for Smoky Southwestern, green for Salsa Verde) and precise nozzle-cutting instructions.
APPROACH
MARKETING
To generate massive consumer awareness, our team launched a high-impact, two-wave integrated marketing campaign (running May 20 - May 31 and July 1 - July 14) spanning national TV commercials, dynamic digital advertising, and targeted outreach to loyalty members via MyMike’s channels. At the store level, we designed visually compelling LTO feature menu board magnets showcasing high-resolution, appetizing photography of the new cheese steaks beside vibrant imagery of the sauces, capturing consumer attention the moment they approach the register.
APPROACH
COMMUNICATION
We orchestrated a robust internal communications rollout to ensure absolute franchisee alignment prior to the launch. We managed a structured autoshipment timeline, sending the marketing and operational kits directly to stores in late April, followed by cases of the 32oz sauce pouches in early May. Through internal website portals, we provided comprehensive FAQs, digital POS button guidelines, and an interactive launch video, emphasizing that managers should allow all team members to taste each sub so they could confidently describe the complex flavors to guests.