Quick-service chains are stepping up already increased a.m. efforts to feed time-pressed consumers by making breakfast-on-the-go more convenient.
While a few long-time breakfast leaders, namely McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, are encouraging franchisees to open earlier, other quick-service chains are either planning to roll out breakfast systemwide or expanding portable choices.
“Weekday time pressures are driving consumer restaurant choices toward limited service,” said foodservice researcher and consultant Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic Information Services in Chicago. “Overall quality of product is a taste driver for consumers to frequent restaurants that have raised the bar.”
Chains that are adding that daypart or promoting it more intensively include Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Taco John’s, Carl’s Jr.,Hardee’s,Jack in the Box and Wienerschnitzel.
Wendy’s is gradually rolling out breakfast, beginning with prime locations based on traffic patterns, demographics and competition, said corporate spokesman Bob Bertini.
“The rollout is right on track in about 500 restaurants now,” he said. “We will continue to roll out many more throughout the rest of this year and in 2008,” he said.
“Portability is very important at breakfast, since our average sales at the pick-up window are 70 percent, and that’s probably higher at breakfast,” Bertini said. Like most quick-service chains that serve breakfast, Wendy’s offers it between 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
Bertini admitted that Wendy’s earlier foray into breakfast in the mid-1980s, which focused on home-style breakfasts that lacked portability and were intended as sit-down meals, did not meet changing consumer lifestyle needs.
Wendy’s breakfast menu includes the Buttermilk Frescuit, a non-crumbly square biscuit that holds a scrambled egg, cheese and bacon; a Steak and Egg Breakfast Sandwich with cheese and bacon on a soft roll; a Grande Breakfast Burrito in a flour tortilla stuffed with scrambled eggs, sausage, roasted potatoes, two cheeses and hot sauce; and French Toast Sticks with syrup for dipping. The menu also includes six combo meals, $2.99 to $4.49; six 99-cent value items; and an upgraded coffee.
McDonald’s has credited its upgraded and expanding coffee line and breakfast for boosting sales. The chain now offers 11 combo breakfasts and four breakfast platters, in addition to à la carte choices. The combos are $2.60 to $4.30 in the Chicago market.
Dunkin’ Donuts is increasing the number of breakfast proteins it offers. The latest is the $3.99 Bacon Lover’s Supreme Omelet—the third item in the Supreme Omelet line—featuring egg, vegetables, three slices of pepper bacon and Colby Jack cheese on a croissant. That dish is available all day.
“The breakfast sandwich category was one of Dunkin’ Donuts’ highest-growth categories during its most recent fiscal year,” a spokeswoman said. Some franchisees of the 5,300-unit chain are agreeing to open at 5 a.m. to meet changing consumer demands.
Taco Bell continues to gather customer feedback on its breakfast test, which began in Fresno, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz.; Toledo, Ohio; and Omaha, Neb. The 6,000-unit chain does not plan to roll out breakfast before 2009, said David Novak, chief executive of parent company Yum! Brands Inc.
“We are hoping to differentiate our menu from the biscuit-and-muffin crowd by offering the same Mexican-inspired things we are known for,” said Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch.
Taco Bell’s test stores are selling à la carte items between 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., including a Guacamole Bacon Grilled Stuft Burrito with scrambled eggs, three cheeses and potatoes, $2.79;a Bacon & Egg Crunchwrap with salsa and three cheeses in a tostada shell, $1.99;a Southwest Sausage Burrito with scrambled eggs and red sauce, $1.29; and an Egg, Bean & Cheese Burrito, 99 cents.
Breakfast sales are growing at 140 units of Cheyenne, Wyo.-based Taco John’s, said spokesman Brian Dixon. Forty of those units began offering breakfast in the past year, and more of the 430 Taco John’s are expected to add that daypart in the future.
Items include various breakfast tacos, burritos and quesadillas, Waffle Stix and churros, and two sizes of Scrambler platters that include eggs topped with nacho cheese sauce, fried Potato Oles chunks, sausage or bacon, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, and shredded cheddar cheese. Taco John’s recently upgraded its coffee.
Wienerschnitzel, the 350-unit Newport Beach, Calif.-based hot dog chain, rolled out a breakfast program in April. It offers an egg and cheese biscuit with bacon or sausage, a croissant with the same ingredients, and a cinnamon roll.
Carl’s Jr. began to pay more attention to breakfast in the last few years, said marketing chief Brad Haley, and morning daypart sales have risen with the addition of new items. The latest is the Breakfast Club Sandwich of turkey breast, a fried egg, ham, bacon and two cheeses on sourdough toast.
San Diego-based Jack in the Box recently launched the $2.99 Sirloin Steak & Egg Burrito.
“The response to our 100-percent Sirloin Burger and Steak ’n Cheddar Ciabatta sandwich has been so great that we wanted to bring sirloin to our breakfast menu,” said Tammy Bailey, the chain’s divisional vice president of menu marketing. Jack in the Box sells breakfast items all day.
Though McDonald’s is studying system upgrades to enable round-the-clock breakfast sales, it continues to deny rumors that it will soon start offering all-day breakfast.