Breakfast Rules All Day Long

The most important meal of the day is now available all day long.

One of the hot trends of the last few years is all-day breakfast. With people working non-traditional hours, families on the run and the general ease of executing a breakfast menu, foodservice operators are focused on the first meal of the day any time of the day.

Another great reason to offer breakfast around-the-clock is the profitability of the breakfast day part. A study of food cost by day-part finds that breakfast sizzles with the lowest food-cost, ringing in at 22 percent. Lunch averages 26 percent and dinner closer to 30 percent. It makes sense that serving more breakfast meals will increase profitability.

As far as labor, breakfast is easy to pull off with fewer people in the back-of-the-house. Lunch and dinner menus require preparation of salads, sauces and soups – items that are labor intense and drive more kitchen hours. Breakfast on the other hand, consists of meals such as cereal, yogurt and egg sandwiches in which a few people can cover many tickets.

The return of butter and full-fat dairy to the American diet makes dairy foods the premier choice at breakfast. Breakfast menus are dairy-rich at the time people naturally want more dairy. Scrambled eggs cooked in butter, buttermilk biscuits and cheese toppings are the essentials of the breakfast sandwich. Cold cereal and cold, delicious milk are everyone’s favorite pairing. 

Yogurt dishes and parfaits are perfect for dine-in and carry out. Yogurt concoctions and parfaits that feature yogurt with layers of fruit and granola make an easy and fast breakfast for people on the go. The ultimate breakfast-on-the-run food is the smoothie, with a dollop of frozen yogurt in its midst. 

Of course, the heart of any breakfast is coffee. The coffee experience in America is at an all-time high, enjoyed by 83 percent of U.S. adults. In addition to the morning jolt, coffee has become an all-day ritual as coffee houses have become community gathering spots as well as prime locations for business meetings. 

Consumption of lattes, which are 85% milk, is at an all-time high. Every coffee shop worth its salt has a decked-out condiment bar featuring non-fat, 2%, half and half, and cream. Baked goods in coffee shops offer the ultimate taste sensation when fresh, creamery butter is used. 

It is easy to see that dairy is the star of breakfast. Grow your foodservice business and delight your customers with all things fresh from the farm. California is the nation’s largest dairy state, supplying 19.6 percent of all the milk in the United States. Whether your customers want to complement their coffee, eat a butter-based pastry or enjoy a yogurt, California is at the heart of any good breakfast, any time of the day.