Breakfast like a King

Breakfast like a King – even on the go!

Recent stories in the press have been highlighting the importance of eating breakfast in the fight against obesity.

The stories reported a study conducted by researchers from Imperial College London, Nestlé Research Centre, the University of Thessaly, King's College London, and VU University Amsterdam. Although it was said that there probably needed to be further investigation, the results did find that there may be some truth in the old adage "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper".

Whatever the outcome of further study may be, the NHS’s current dietary advice is not to skip your morning meal and to eat a healthy, balanced breakfast with plenty of wholemeal, vegetables, fruit and limited saturated fat, sugar and salt.

So what about those whose mad morning rush doesn’t leave enough wriggle room to eat that healthy balanced breakfast? Those who have to snatch something to eat on the morning commute or at their desk?

According to Kantar Worldpanel there’s a lot of them!

in the 52 weeks to July 2015 we British have eaten breakfast on the hoof on 205 million occasions. That’s almost 4 million breakfasts a week, and an increase of 13.2% on the previous year!

Another survey by purchasing company Beacon, concluded that the British spend £76m daily on going out for breakfast, with as many as 14% eating breakfast away from home every day, particularly on the way to work or at an early business meeting

So what are these breakfast-on-the-go-ers choosing to eat and why?

The most common reason for choosing a particular breakfast item is because of the taste. No surprise there then!

But breakfasters also want the meal to be filling and are increasingly choosing something that has health benefits, such as fibre and vitamins. This possibly accounts for the growing popularity of porridge and the many varieties in which it is now available.

So how can you take advantage of the growing breakfast trends?

Convenience is important so offering products that can be hand held and eaten without making too much mess – we’re thinking the contents of a fried egg sandwich, delicious though they may be, may often find their way out of your grasp and onto your shirt or blouse – but of course this depends where your customer is going to eat and if he can tuck a napkin under his chin!.

Sandwiches with traditional fillings such as bacon or sausage are always popular, but why not offer different carriers from the traditional bap/roll/bun/breadcake (whichever is appropriate to your region!) such as bagels, wraps, brioche, oven bottom muffins or croissants.

With variety also being a key driver for breakfasters, alternative fillings could help tempt their taste buds too – smoked salmon and cream cheese; egg mayo and roasted tomato; ham and Emmenthal – or even sweet chocolate and hazelnut.

We mentioned porridge earlier – and the fact that it was growing in popularity. In the 5 years between 2008 and 2013 the value of porridge sales almost doubled and sales continue to rise. Interestingly it’s becoming a best seller for those who grab breakfast on the way to work. One popular national food-to-go chain revealed that porridge was its best-selling item – with 9,000 bowls sold per day.

Porridge is readily available in convenient ready to serve pots for take-away, and this is a good way to test your market.

Of course a bag of porridge oats can go a long way, and if you’ve established a demand you could offer homemade porridge in pots with a variety of toppings – blueberry; honey and banana; mango and seeds; cinnamon and raisin; fruit compote – even a mix of shaved coconut, caramelised pecans and cocoa nibs. You could also use similar ingredients to offer that popular oat based healthy breakfast option of Bircher Muesli.

Some people can’t face eating first thing in the morning so a vitamin packed smoothie might be a good option for them, or perhaps a fibre rich granola bar or other delicious high fibre, seed-based snacks with hot drink a little later in the morning.

Of course, some consumers will always prefer flaky and sweet morning goods with their breakfast coffee, so we must never turn our back on freshly baked Viennoiserie – croissants, almond croissants, pain au chocolat and pain aux raisins, nor Danish pastries filled with pecan nuts and drizzled with maple syrup . . . oh and muffins . . .

All these scrumptious breakfast items are available from Total Foodservice – just give the sales team a call for more information.