If Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day, Why Aren’t People Eating It?

For decades, we’ve been told that breakfast is an important meal for kicking off the day. Mom said it first, and various nutrition and health experts have chimed in over the years, underscoring the significance of the morning meal.

As it turns out, not everyone is listening to that advice, which presents both a challenge and an opportunity for foodservice at retail.

The recently-released 2017 Breakfast Consumer Trend Report from Technomic reveals that consumers are skipping breakfast slightly more than they did in 2015. That’s the challenging news.

The opportunity of this daypart meal equation comes in with the findings that consumers are reducing at-home breakfast occasions, based on their busier lifestyles. Instead of eating a bowl of cereal or cracking some eggs in their own kitchens, people are buying snacks or beverages on the run as replacements for a full breakfast.

According to this new Techonomic report, operators can meet the needs of these harried yet hungry consumers in a variety of ways. “Speedy service and craveable grab-and-go options can help operators and suppliers engrain themselves into consumers’ morning routines,” says Kelly Weikel, director of consumer insights. “Time also remains a key deterrent to breakfast occasions, so operators will need to push the envelope in terms of convenience. Order-ahead and delivery capabilities are likely to appeal to those who constantly feel short on time in the mornings.”

Related:Here Comes the Sunchoke

Even if they are rushing out the door and skipping breakfast, shoppers may be enticed by breakfast foods at other times. Mirroring the growth of all day breakfast in the QSR arena, nearly a third (30%) of consumers say they buy breakfast food beyond the morning hours more often now than they did two years ago.

Likewise, brunch is big, in a cultural way among Millennials and in a real way, in sales. Technomic's research shows that 40% of consumers say they eat brunch at least once a week.