Mexico City - Fast-food franchiser Subway is on a roll in Mexico. They have opened 40 new outlets so far in 2015 and plan to open 60 more before the year is out. But the growth won't stop there. Its five-year plan is to open 500 more, said Subway México spokesman Carlos Cancino León.

The world's largest restaurant operator, with 44,105 outlets in 110 countries, opened its first branch in Mexico on September 7, 2002 in Polanco, an upscale area of Mexico City. Today Subway has 998 restaurants throughout the country, 200 of which are located in the Federal District.

The Mexican franchises employ more than 10,000 people who serve more than 36 million customers every year. The company expect to end the year with sales growth of 12%. In the last five years, its revenue grew 57%.

More than 50% of the restaurants in Mexico opened in that time span. "The growth that we have experienced is very large for such small stores, each one comprises only about 70 square meters," Cancino said in an interview.

The cost of a Subway franchise in Mexico runs at about 1.5 million pesos, or $89,000 USD, depending on the location's size, which range between 30 and 130 square meters, and various other factors, including location.