Axios reports that our mothers, apparently, were right – breakfast is once again becoming the most important meal of the day.
Here’s how it frames the story: “Cereal is (largely) out, but hot honey sandwiches, cinnamon roll pancakes and wonuts — a waffle/doughnut hybrid — are in as more chefs try to lure us out for breakfast … Fine dining restaurants, fast-food outlets and supermarkets are doubling down on breakfast and brunch in 2024.”
At the same time, ” Breakfast-centered restaurants like First Watch, Waffle House and Eggs Up Grill have been expanding and rising in popularity, while IHOP has refurbished its menu.”
Axios writes that “stubbornly high food prices and lingering recession fears will have Americans gravitating toward buying breakfast as a budget-conscious splurge in 2024, predicts Technomic, a food industry consultancy.” And “Young people are driving demand for takeout breakfasts. 77% of Gen Z adults (ages 18-24) and 66% of millennials (ages 25-34) pick up fast-food breakfast at least 1-3 times a month, per CivicScience.
“The J.M. Smucker Co. reports even higher numbers, saying that 67% of Gen Zers and 76% of millennials purchase breakfast foods or beverages at a food service location at least once a week.”
Axios adds that “hot honey breakfast sandwiches are listed as one of 2024’s top 10 trending foods in the National Restaurant Association’s latest annual Culinary Forecast.”
And cereal? “We’re eschewing it in favor of protein-laden portables like bars, shakes and frozen burritos, dampening the profits of Kellogg’s, General Mills and Post Holdings, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Yes, but: Cereal makers are introducing products catering to our newfangled (and oldfangled) tastes.
“Kellogg’s just came out with Eat Your Mouth Off, a new brand of high-protein vegan cereal … A startup called Magic Spoon is trying to make healthier versions of childhood cereal favorites — ‘grain free,’ high protein, low sugar offerings in flavors like birthday cake and pumpkin spice.”
KC’s View:
Once again, I appear to be simultaneously ahead of my time and out of step with the moment.
I’ve always been a breakfast person, and eat it every day – but I’m also an unapologetic cereal person. Most mornings, as I draft MNB, I’m sipping coffee and eating some version of Cheerios with sliced bananas.
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