Expect restaurants to go all in on breakfast this year
Expect restaurants to go all in on breakfast this year
Maybe you’ve noticed ads for breakfast items popping up for restaurants that weren’t always big on breakfast: Taco Bell has breakfast tacos and Wendy’s has English muffin sandwiches.
Breakfast — and its more formal cousin brunch — are “in” for 2024, according to a recent report from restaurant research firm Technomic.
Once upon a time, brunch was reserved for special occasions like Mother’s Day. But now, Dominick Purnomo is serving it every weekend at his restaurant Day Line in New York’s Hudson Valley.
“You know, I think it’s a great way for people to enjoy something,” he said. “Especially if they have families, they can get out during the day.”
There’s that. But brunch also has better profit margins. “For most breakfast places, you know, you’re looking at eggs, potatoes and bread. Those are items that are not especially expensive,” Purnomo said.
That’s always been true, but right now the prices are stabilizing for many of those breakfast staples, noted analyst Sean Dunlop at Morningstar.
“So chicken and eggs and dairy and wheat are all set to be deflationary moving into 2024,” he said. “And as operators are looking to recover to pre-pandemic profitability levels, that’s pretty attractive.”
Meanwhile, since the pandemic, many fast food restaurants have reduced their dining room hours — which is fine for customers who want breakfast on the go.
“A lot of brands will just close the dining room, and they’ll funnel people through the drive-thru with barebones staff,” Dunlop said.
But it’s not just businesses banking on breakfast. According to Robert Byrne, director of consumer and industry insights at Technomic, with inflation, consumers are leaning into eggs Benedict as a way to stick to their budgets while still treating themselves.
“That breakfast spend is actually going to be lower,” Byrne said. “So for a consumer who loves restaurants — and we all do, right, to some degree — they’re just flipping the script and going to breakfast or brunch because it’s less expensive.”
That means they have room to order a side of pancakes. And maybe a mimosa. The proof? Byrne says 70% of diners order alcoholic beverages at brunch versus 40% at dinner.
Plus, Purnomo, the restaurant owner in New York, said that diners habits have changed. They don’t like to stay out late anymore. Brunch lets him make up for some of the business he’s lost from the dinner crowd.
“People are tending to eat earlier than they have, I would say, for a long time. For a long time, 8 o’clock was the ideal reservation,” he said.
Now, dinner peaks at 6. And during brunch, it’s noon.
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