Subway is selling premade sandwiches from AI fridges which it says can hear you talk and answer your questions

• Subway says it plans to roll out more smart fridges, which can understand speech and sell premade sandwiches.
• It installed its first one on a college campus in September with "extremely positive" feedback.

Subway is selling premade sandwiches in "smart fridges" that it says can listen to you and answer your questions.

Its smart fridge uses AI and natural language processing so that "guests can talk directly to the smart fridge and ask about any of the products inside," Subway says. Weight-sensor shelves make sure customers are charged correctly.

Subway said that it installed its first "interactive, fully unattended smart fridge" at the University of California San Diego in September, with sandwiches stocked up each day by staff at a local Subway store.

The fridge sells six-inch sandwiches, including Subway's Italian BMT, Veggie Delite, and oven roasted turkey. It also sells bottled drinks, cookies, and chips.

Subway said that initial feedback was "extremely positive," with students pointing to the convenience of the fridge which isn't bound to set opening hours like its normal stores. Subway said that it had already seen "strong interest" in smart fridges from its franchisees and that they could be rolled out in locations like like airports, college campuses, and hospitals in the future.

A spokesperson for the sandwich chain told Insider that it expected to install additional fridges "in the coming weeks."

Because of their compact size, the smart fridges will take up significantly less real estate than Subway stores, which could allow the chain to sell products in locations where a full-size store wouldn't be feasible. And because the sandwiches are premade with no customizations, they'll be quicker and easier for staff to make, reducing expenditure on labor.

Subway said that the fridges are fully cashless. Customers can tap-to-pay with their phone or insert a credit card.

This is similar to the automat food lockers across the Netherlands, where customers can insert coins or their card to retrieve premade – and in some cases heated – food like burgers, hot dogs, and Dutch specialities. Fast-food giants also operate food lockers, though these largely rely on customers scanning a QR code or using a dedicated app to both select and retrieve their food and then pay for it.

Subway is best known for its customizable sandwiches, but has been scaling back on some of the ways that customers can personalize their subs since the start of the pandemic, including introducing a range of sandwiches designed to be ordered as-is. By removing customizations, selling sandwiches becomes quicker and less labor-intensive.

In 2020, Subway started rolling out kiosk displays that sell sandwiches premade by franchisees at Subway stores. The kiosks, known as "Grab and Go," are now available at more than 400 retail locations, including casinos, convenience and gas stores, hospitals, and airports, Subway says.