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7 out of 10 American Consumers Want All Day Breakfast

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P

pgtl_10

Member
http://www.qsrmagazine.com/exclusives/dawn-daylong-breakfast

While breakfast may not be the quick-service industry’s biggest daypart, there could be enough demand for breakfast foods to become a daylong staple.

According to the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) 2015 Restaurant Industry Forecast, seven out of 10 consumers say they want restaurants to serve breakfast throughout the day. Millennials are more interested in breakfast for dinner than any other age group before them.

“Breakfast hasn’t traditionally been the most common dining-out daypart, but with the increasingly busy lifestyles we lead today, consumer interest is definitely stemming from the blurring of normal meal periods,” says Annika Stensson, the NRA’s director of research communications. “Who doesn’t like some good pancakes, no matter what time of day it is?”

Brands have already been showing signs of innovation with their breakfast menu offerings within the past year—Taco Bell’s Waffle Taco and Sonic’s French Toaster come to mind—and the NRA reports that people are looking for more spicy flavors and ethnic influences in their breakfast choices. But to date there hasn’t been as much innovation with the breakfast hours, with most brands wrapping up breakfast service at 10:30 or 11 a.m.

Sonic is one brand that has long served its breakfast menu throughout the day. For CMO Todd Smith, offering daylong breakfast is a logical extension of Sonic’s philosophy of “giving the customer what they want, when they want it.”
“Most other chains cook their lunch and dinner menu items on a flat grill, so that lends itself to cooking breakfast items all day, as well.”

“At breakfast, we focus on unique menu items that we can offer quickly and consistently,” Smith says. “Those same items—like our Breakfast Burritos and Breakfast Toaster Sandwiches—also happen to be great options for other dayparts.”

But serving breakfast all day while remaining quick and consistent is precisely the problem for many restaurants. McDonald’s has famously considered serving breakfast all day for several years, but has opted against it for operational purposes.

For Hardee’s, breakfast comprises almost 50 percent of total day sales in many Southeast markets, and it’s growing more quickly than any other daypart. But Brad Haley, CMO for Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. parent CKE, says keeping the “quick” in quick service is more important to Hardee’s than expanding its hours. Because Hardee’s signature, made-from-scratch biscuits require a specialized preparation team, Haley says, expanding breakfast hours would create a slew of staffing, timing, and quality issues. In addition, space and equipment present challenges.

“Most other chains cook their lunch and dinner menu items on a flat grill, so that lends itself to cooking breakfast items all day, as well,” Haley says. “At Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, the predominant cooking platform for our lunch and dinner items is a charbroiler, so we would have to run two separate cooking platforms to be able to prepare breakfast items all day, and that would significantly complicate operations.” For Haley, those complications outweigh the potential sales gains.

At California-based Chronic Tacos, unlimited breakfast hours are worth the operational hassle in order to cater to the brand’s nontraditional clientele.

“Catering to their schedules made us a destination for the active California lifestyle,” CEO Mike Mohammed says. “That being said, when we are in the middle of a lunch rush, it can disrupt our flow at times, but our systems and team are very efficient. The customer may have to wait a couple of extra minutes, but it is worth it to have a fresh-made breakfast burrito.”

Stensson says there are ways to hop onboard the breakfast-all-day trend without compromising operational efficiency. She suggests offering one breakfast-type item on the lunch menu—like a breakfast burrito—that has a similar assembly method to the other items found in lunch and dinner menus. She also recommends offering “sturdier” breakfast items with more protein to satisfy customers who crave their morning meal at nontraditional times.

Mohammed points to eggs as the next area for innovation in the trend toward extended and nontraditional breakfast.

“As the trend continues to grow, it will be a great opportunity for people to get creative with eggs. Eggs are such a great protein and are great at any daypart,” he says.

Whether or not businesses see a complete overhaul of their breakfast daypart in the future, Stensson emphasizes the need to capitalize on some aspect of the trend and to differentiate restaurants with unique menu offerings in the process.

“This trend is really starting to go beyond the big chains, and that’s what’s making this so unique,” she says. “Breakfast is kind of an unexplored daypart, and chains are starting to see that breakfast can definitely be a successful area for growth.”

If chains can implement systems to promote efficiency and select new menu items that logistically fit into the concept, the rewards for those breakfast innovators this year could be greater than ever before.
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McDonald's are you listening?
 
S

Sho_Nuff82

Member
Because pancakes are fucking delicious, and anyone with a pulse likes bacon. And nothing says late night like a big cheese omelette with home fries.

Seriously, how many people moved out of their parents' place just so you could finally eat cereal for dinner? Americans have mastered breakfast.
 
V

Vyroxis

Banned
4 egg omelettes with hash browns, toast, bacon, and ice cold milk for all three meals?

Oh hell yes please, I would love this.
 
Ravijn

Ravijn

Member
pFdsxla.png
 
N

nasax

Member
I've never understood why food associated with breakfast is only in the mornings. I've eaten dinner food for breakfast and breakfast food for dinner.
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
But if every place has breakfast all day, I feel like that dilutes the fun of eating breakfast foods later in the day... not to mention it reduces a reason to get up early in the morning.
 
P

pgtl_10

Member
nasax said:
I've never understood why food associated with breakfast is only in the mornings. I've eaten dinner food for breakfast and breakfast food for dinner.
Click to expand...

This. Cold pizza is great.

Also I use to eat my leftovers from Golden Corral for breakfast.
 
E

Ekdrm2d1

Member
Sho_Nuff82 said:
Because pancakes are fucking delicious, and anyone with a pulse likes bacon. And nothing says late night like a big cheese omelette with home fries.

Seriously, how many people moved out of their parents' place just so you could finally eat cereal for dinner? Americans have mastered breakfast.
Click to expand...

stressed-business-man-with-problems-on-laptop-holding-face-in-his-hand-ss-55182562.ashx
 
A

akira28

Member
Sho_Nuff82 said:
Because pancakes are fucking delicious, and anyone with a pulse likes bacon. And nothing says late night like a big cheese omelette with home fries.

Seriously, how many people moved out of their parents' place just so you could finally eat cereal for dinner? Americans have mastered breakfast.
Click to expand...

McDonalds hotcakes are microwaved. Never again. Never....again.
 
C

captive

Joe Six-Pack: posting for the common man
Wow so far 100% support from GAF on this issue. I'm amazed, still waiting on that one person...

The wife and I just bought waffle mix this week to do waffles for dinner.
 
K

keeblerdrow

Member
I'm headed out for breakfast food for dinner tonight. I'm sad that most places with the best breakfast food, locally, close at 2pm and my options are severely limited.
 
D

Dennis

Banned
I had this kind of breakfast burger thing the other. Sausage, egg and cheddar. Was godly.

It wasn't from McD tho.
 
I

itwasTuesday

He wasn't alone.
Just finished a road trip with a sausage biscuit every meal of the day. Mcdonalds then Bojangles then Cracker Barrel. So good. I was ready for a salad after that drive, but still.

I do wish DC had Sonic and Bojangles.
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
If those 7/10 can get breakfast at all hours of the day... I, part of the 3/10 want a burger at 8AM, damn it.
 
M

MIMIC

Banned
As the years go by, I become more and more surprised that McDonald's hasn't yet offered breakfast 24/7.

Fake edit: then again, in some places they stop offering the Big Mac after 11PM, so never mind.
 
B

blahness

Member
itwasTuesday said:
Just finished a road trip with a sausage biscuit every meal of the day. Mcdonalds then Bojangles then Cracker Barrel. So good. I was ready for a salad after that drive, but still.

I do wish DC had Sonic and Bojangles.
Click to expand...

According to Google, there is a Bojangles in Union Station. I knew there was at least one near FedEx field in MD, but I guess there are three locations total in PG county. Sonic on the other hand you will need to drive further out towards the shore or into VA to find one.
 
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