CHICAGO —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
“[Breakfast] is about 35 [percent] to 38 percent of our revenue, and it has a lower food cost and higher profits than other dayparts,” said Courtney Parks, executive chef and an owner in Open City, Tryst and The Diner, all in Washington, D.C. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
Parks joined Stan Frankenthaler, executive chef and director of culinary for Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Brands, and market researcher Michelle Schmall in discussing the advantage of the morning daypart. Steve Solomon, menu development and consultant for the American Egg Board, moderated the panel. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
The morning daypart is the only meal period that is growing during this recession, said Schmall, vice president of CREST Product Management for the NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based market research firm. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
“In the first quarter of 2009, we see the morning daypart is up 1 percent, and it’s the only daypart that is positive,” she said. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
The breakfast daypart attracts consumers with lower price points, convenience, taste and portability of menu items, the panelists said. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
Consumers are spending an average of about $4.50 for breakfast, which is less than what they spend for lunch and dinner, Schmall said. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
“Perhaps part of the strength of the morning meal is in these tough economic times people are trading down to a less expensive daypart,” she said. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
The morning is also a highly ritualized time of day for consumers, so operators have an advantage if they can insert themselves into customers’ daily routines, said Frankenthaler from Dunkin’ Brands, the owner and franchisor of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, which together number more than 14,000 restaurants in 31 countries. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
“Dunkin’ coffee is a huge driver for us of that morning ritual as well as the breakfast foods, from sweet to savory,” he said. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
New high-speed ovens have helped Dunkin’ Donuts achieve incremental sales in the morning with such menu items as flatbread breakfast sandwiches, he said. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
“The oven-toasted platform not only gives us great flavor because it’s really an oven, but it’s a high-speed oven so it gives great caramelizing and great flavors on all things cooked in the oven,” Frankenthaler said. “It’s just really great food coming out of the oven and it’s resonated well with our customers.” —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
Taste, new menu items and portable items customers can eat with their hands are important at breakfast, the panelists said. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
Breakfast sandwiches, wraps and burritos are the most popular foods for consumers, Schmall said. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
“The morning meal is more dependent on carryout and drive-thru than the rest of the day,” she said. “Carryout is almost half the market, and 24 percent go through the drive-thru.” —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
Still, about 30 percent of morning meals are consumed on-premise, so operators have an opportunity with dine-in meals, Schmall added. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
Consumers want a local place to go, that gives them a sense of community, said Parks, who helped start Open City and The Diner five years ago. The restaurants now boast waits of 45 minutes to an hour. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
“All our kitchens are scratch kitchens, and when you come to our restaurants in the morning, they smell like bacon,” Parks said. “It’s part of the overall movement toward wholesome ingredients.” —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
Parks advised operators thinking of offering breakfast to start out slow and stagger their labor hours. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
“Have a few people to set up at 5 o’clock, and then have more come in at 7 o’clock and 9 o’clock, so you do not have a big group coming in at 6 a.m. and waiting for the rush at 7:30 a.m.,” Parks said. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
Operators looking for employees to handle a morning shift may be pleasantly surprised if they start asking who would be interested in an early shift, Parks said. —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
“There are morning people everywhere,” Parks said. “The opportunity to get out at 2 or 3 in the afternoon is appealing to a lot of people.”— [email protected] —Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day for operators looking to spark sales and improve margins, according to panelists gathered to discuss the topic during the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show.
