All Breakfast, All the Time

Many trend watchers declared breakfast-all-day THE foodservice story of 2015 and made the Egg McMuffin the hero that saved McDonald’s from plummeting sales. Beyond the golden arches, breakfast tacos and cereal-donut balls have created media buzz at Taco Bell, while coffee-centric limited service concepts have been serving breakfast-all-day for years.

The bottom line: Breakfast foods are comforting, filling and affordable.

“Breakfast is the only growing daypart in foodservice,” notes Steve Solomon, culinary consultant for the American Egg Board. “One pundit called 2015 the year of all-day breakfast. Consumers, driven by Millennials and the iGeneration, have shown that they want breakfast. The National Restaurant Association did a study last year that found 70 percent of consumers wanted breakfast all day. That number jumped to 79 percent when they polled Millennials.”

Solomon admits that breakfast might not be a natural fit for weekday grocery traffic, which skews higher later in the day, but believes that targeted promotions could win the weekends.

“Sometimes it's all in what you call it and how you merchandise it. The word ‘brunch’ has a certain cachet,” Solomon notes. “If you have in-store seating, create a brunch menu built on convenience and making a weekend errand more enjoyable. If you can offer grab-and-go only, create a weekend wake-up breakfast sandwich that people can eat while they shop.”

Grocerant-Ready Ideas:

• Breakfast burritos, tacos and sandwiches that offer the convenience shoppers demand
• Easy value-adds from artisan cheese, fresh herbs and CPG sauces
• Pre-assembled sandwiches finished on a panini grill