CHICAGO — The opportunity to capitalize on the breakfast category in Canada exists, but food service operators need to focus on convenience, value, health and variety if they hope to do so, according to research from Technomic, Inc.

According to Technomic’s “Canadian Breakfast Consumer Trend Report,” most Canadian consumers eat breakfast on a regular basis, with 82% saying they eat breakfast at least sometimes and 32% saying they always eat breakfast.

But even with the regularity in which Canadian consumers eat breakfast, many people indicated there are times they skip breakfast. Forty-three per cent said they skip breakfast at least once a week.

“There are opportunities to increase breakfast traffic in each restaurant segment,” said Darren Tristano, executive vice-president of Technomic, Inc. “But in order to do so, operators must highlight their strengths. Limited-service breakfast customers tell us that value menus, breakfast sandwiches and portability are important to them, while overall menu variety, all-day breakfast items and kids’ breakfast options are particularly important to full-service breakfast consumers. Zeroing in on the core needs of your breakfast customer is integral to building the daypart’s success.”

Among Technomic’s findings were:

• 52% of consumers who eat breakfast at home do so to save money.

• 31% said it is too expensive to purchase breakfast from limited-service restaurants during the week.

• 43% said it is too expensive to purchase breakfast from full-service restaurants during the week.

• 73% of consumers feel it is unhealthy to skip breakfast.

• About 63% of food service breakfasts include coffee. Additionally, consumers cite the availability of their preferred coffee as a key reason why they visit their primary breakfast source.