May 2002 issue

What’s For Breakfast

Restaurants USA magazine's final issue was published in September 2002 but these archived articles remain available for our readers' convenience.

Restaurants USA, May 2002

Breakfast, or the morning meal/snack, is responsible for generating 18 percent of total daily restaurant traffic, according to CREST*. The morning meal posted gains in 2000 and 2001 despite the economic slowdown. As many consumers come to regard stopping for a morning meal as a necessity, growth in restaurant traffic for this part of the day outpaced overall traffic gains in four of the last six years.
By Susan Mills

May 6, 2002

Although purchasing a morning meal from a restaurant has become more commonplace, it is important to note that the morning daypart is a relatively small one for much of the restaurant industry.

The U.S. Bureau of Census, 1997 Economic Census reveals that less than $1 out of $10 is spent between 6 and 11 a.m. at fullservice and limited-service restaurants and cafeterias combined.


Other insights from the CREST data include

• Per-person check size for the morning meal is relatively modest. All restaurants averaged $3.88 in 2001—$3.16 at quickservice restaurants and $6.06 at fullservice.

• Quickservice captures 75 percent of morning-meal traffic, with hamburger, doughnut and retail or convenience-store locations among the most popular venues where consumers purchase portable breakfast sandwiches.

• Consumers order more individual menu items when they purchase their morning meal at a fullservice restaurant than they do at a quickservice establishment. Thus, quickservice restaurants account for 48 percent of servings of breakfast-oriented foods despite capturing 75 percent of morning-meal traffic.

• Consumers look for a deal even when they regard purchasing food away from home as a necessity. Twenty-five percent of breakfast-oriented servings are purchased using a deal or promotion.

• The largest proportion of breakfast-oriented items are ordered on Sunday, followed by Saturday, Friday and Thursday.

• Fully 75 percent of breakfast-oriented foods are ordered by parties that do not include any children.

• Purchasing the morning meal at a restaurant is more popular with men than women and with consumers older than 35. The morning meal is most popular with consumers in the South.

• The most popular breakfast food is the breakfast sandwich, especially the biscuit sandwich—a quickservice breakfast staple.

• Eggs rank second among breakfast foods behind breakfast sandwiches.

• Bacon ranks first in the breakfast-meat category, followed by sausage.

• Doughnuts lead the bread/sweet-roll category, followed closely by bagels and sliced bread/toast.

• Potatoes far outsell grits as a morning-meal accompaniment.

• There are distinct regional favorites among breakfast-oriented items. For example, the bagel breakfast sandwich is most popular in the East, while the West favors the breakfast wrap/burrito.

* CREST, an acronym for Consumer Reports on Eating Share Trends, is an industry-subscriber service that provides consumer-behavior information on the purchase of restaurant-prepared meals and snacks. CREST methodology involves the daily collection of purchase behavior from a balanced online panel, totaling 52,500 individuals per month. Each participant reports information about “yesterday’s” meals or snacks that were prepared outside the home. Data shown are not comparable to previous CREST reports due to changes in methodology.

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Susan Mills is senior researcher at the National Restaurant Association.