Technomic said breakfast eaters that use restaurants frequently for lunch, dinner and snacks, never get food from restaurants for breakfast. This consumer segment represents 10% of the adult population. Even though these consumers do not get restaurant food for breakfast, they visit restaurants nearly 27 times a month. This segment of the population is predisposed to using restaurants and represents just one important target group for breakfast growth, the researcher said.
A commonly-held belief is that the primary reason consumers eat breakfast away from home is that they also work away from home and don't have time for breakfast before beginning their commute. While Technomic's study did detect a difference in this group's away-from-home breakfast usage, it was not significant. Among the heaviest breakfast users, 60% did work outside the home. But 46% of people who never eat out for breakfast also work outside the home.
"For some time, consumers have sourced breakfast meals from restaurants less often than they do other meal occasions," stated Michael Allenson, principal and director, consumer research at Technomic and author of the study. "While getting consumers to eat out more frequently at breakfast has been a challenge, recent successes and innovations by a few chains have demonstrated the growth potential of this meal occasion and sparked new interest and reevaluation."
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