According to end of year reports, Subway has replaced McDonald’s as the largest fast food chain worldwide.

Subway’s reports state that in 2010 they had 33,749 stores operating across the globe compared to McDonald’s 32,737.

However, McDonald’s still retains the title of most profitable fast food chain, bringing in over $24 billion in profit (or about 17 billion double cheeseburgers). This easily defeats Subway’s $15 billion profit (about 4.3 billion cold cut trio’s on herb and cheese).

The recent meteoric rise in Subway stores over the last few years is attributed to an increasing global market, comparatively cheap start up costs and the “healthy push” of today’s society.

McDonald’s execs are not worried. They say their focus is more on getting better rather than just getting bigger. This appears to be working for McDonald’s and is clearly much better than Burger King’s strategy of continually sucking.

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