Breakfast sandwich
As snacking morphs one meal into the next and creates crossbreed meal occasions, breakfast foods are becoming more recognizable in any part of the day.
 

You won’t find this information in I.R.I. or Nielsen supermarket scanning data, but sales of sleepy ol’ English muffins have increased dramatically over the past few years. That’s partly because of the surge in all-day breakfast by McDonald’s and other quick-service chains as well as other food service casual dining establishments. And it’s good news for bakers and equipment manufacturers. Moreover, as snacking morphs one meal into the next and creates crossbreed meal occasions, breakfast foods are becoming more recognizable in any part of the day.

No longer is a brioche bun the only upscale addition to a burger on a food service menu; now it’s topped with an egg, cheese, bacon or veggie sausage, noted Editor Joanie Spencer in Baking & Snack’s April issue.

According to the NPD Group, breakfast occasions in and out of the home are projected to grow by 5% through 2019, actually outpacing the population growth. And Technomic’s Breakfast Consumer Trend Report indicated that in 2015, 54% of consumers said that they enjoy eating breakfast at nontraditional times, up from 48% in 2013. A recent article in Forbes magazine named “Breakfast, updated” as No. 3 of the Top 5 food trends to watch in 2017.

Seeing more than the “breakfast all day” concept, the article also predicted edgier items such as fried chicken, crispy chorizo and chimichurri to pop up on breakfast menu offerings at a variety of restaurants and food service operations. If you look at bread, tortillas, croissants and bagels as a “component” of the meal solution, there are great opportunities for growth … even in the sleepy ol’ English muffin category.