With lunch and dinner daypart sales showing no signs of reversing their downward trajectory any time soon, foodservice operators continue to turn to the breakfast and brunch meal occasions to help boost revenues.
However, as the sector becomes more crowded, restaurateurs are looking to differentiate themselves from the growing breakfast/brunch pack by ramping up flavor profiles, offering more healthful alternatives and developing signature menu items.
Jana Mann, senior director at Chicago-based research firm Datassential, says that overall the sector continues to add new practitioners hoping to harness its growth potential, noting that 20 percent more restaurants have added breakfast/brunch to their menus over the past decade.
Driving this increase in the morning daypart business is the shift in consumers' dining out habits. According to the NPD Group, a global information company in Port Washington, N.Y., consumers cut back on their restaurant visits at lunch and supper in 2013 but increased their visits at breakfast for the fourth consecutive year. In excess of 12.5 billion breakfast visits were made to foodservice outlets that year, reflecting a 3-percent gain over 2012.
Indeed, more Americans are opting to eat breakfast away from home these days, boosting business in what has historically been an underpenetrated aspect of the foodservice industry. NPD vice president Harry Balzer says the average U.S. consumers purchased 19 morning meals at restaurants in 1984; today, the average has risen to 31. Meanwhile, NPD's “A look into the Future of Foodservice” study projects total restaurant breakfast visits are expected to increase by 7 percent over the next nine years.
One of the reasons for the recent consumer interest in breakfast and brunch can be traced back to the recent economic downturn. “It started with the rough economic times a few years ago,” says Chris Tomasso, chief marketing officer for First Watch, a 140-unit breakfast, brunch and lunch specialist based in Sarasota, Fla. “Because the household income was tight, people substituted breakfast and brunch for dinner — which tends to be more expensive. And that trend has held.”
Indeed, says Jason Knoll, vice president of operations at 46-unit Another Broken Egg of America in Miramar Beach, Fla., “People have been finding that they can get better value at breakfast than dinner. You can get an amazing breakfast or brunch for under $15.”
Revenue growth within the sector, however, has begun to slow recently, leaving those operators with a stake in the morning daypart to step up the battle among themselves for share. Meanwhile, some players like Wendy's have exited breakfast while others like Taco Bell have entered the field.
In fact, breakfast is not an easy sector to enter, says Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president-foodservice strategies for WD Partners, a design and development firm in Columbus, Ohio. “It's hard to generate enough traffic quickly enough to make it sustainable and profitable,” he says. “Changing consumers breakfast habits is difficult. First you have to have iconic or craveable items.”
However, experts tend to agree that breakfast and brunch remain an opportunity for growth for those operators who can accommodate changes in the sector and develop selections that help to differentiate their operations from competitors'.
Although breakfast orders generally tend toward the traditional eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage and toast combinations, morning menumakers also are working to accommodate the same food trends that are gradually reshaping lunch and dinner business. Tomasso of First Watch cites the trend toward more healthful dining and the growing focus on fresh ingredients. He says First Watch has developed a more healthful line of items like its Power Breakfast Quinoa Bowls, Avocado Toast, Superfood Kale Salad and Day Glow — freshly juiced carrots, oranges, lemons and ginger.
Superfoods like kale, quinoa and avocado, in fact, are appearing on breakfast and brunch menus around the country. Robert Maynard, chief executive of Famous Toastery, a six-unit “better breakfast” concept based in Charlotte, N.C., says two of the chain's most popular omelets feature avocado — The Avocado Omelet and Avocado Benedict with Gruyère and salsa.
Another popular dish at First Watch combines quinoa with kale, peppers, mushrooms, feta and a truffle cream sauce.
While breakfast and brunch operators are adding more health-centric selections, they also are busy developing dishes that boast more robust taste profiles. Knoll of Another Broken Egg of America says consumers are looking for more flavor in menu items today. As a result, he says, the 46-unit chain is menuing more dishes with regional or ethnic flavors. “We went from a California-style menu to one with more low-country flavors, Gulf coast flavors, Southwestern flavors, Asian flavors.”
Hot sauce plays a key role in many of the brand's menu selections. Popular brunch items include Shrimp and Grits, a spicy Louisiana dish that takes its heat from TABASCO® Sauce. Its signature Eggs Benedict, Crabcakes Cavallo, Eggs Blackstone and Black Bean Benedict also are served with a hollandaise sauce infused with TABASCO® Sauce.
While dishes with heightened flavors continue to drive sales, Knoll points out that regionality also plays a role in the sales equation at breakfast. For example, the chain's Lobster Omelet sells well in the North but not as well in restaurants along the Gulf Coast. He also notes that Huevos Rancheros do not sell particularly well on the East Coast but do well everywhere else.
One of the biggest success stories for the morning daypart has been the handheld sandwich, as demonstrated by McDonald's iconic Egg McMuffin, which has helped the quick-service chain grab 18 percent of the away-from-home breakfast market. Full-service operators have been a little less enthusiastic about menuing sandwiches, noting that they are more appropriate for quick-service environment.
Nevertheless, that may be starting to change. Another Broken Egg does not currently menu an egg sandwich, but it plans to add up to four sandwiches in 2016, including a pork belly and fig jam egg slider, Knoll says.
First Watch also has made an initial foray into the world of handheld sandwiches. It's Elevated Egg Sandwich — an over easy egg with bacon, Gruyère cheese, fresh smashed avocado, lemon crema and arugula on a brioche bun. “It has become an instant best-seller,” Tomasso says. “We've been asking if maybe we have just been missing the boat on handhelds or whether we just knocked this one out of the park.”
