Breakfast Sales Plummet
No one’s eating out in the morning anymore, pushing the once promising daypart into a tailspin.
May 08, 2020 | 2 min read
NEW YORK—In 2019, the largest restaurant chains, including Wendy’s, Dunkin’ and McDonald’s, scrambled to grab their share of the breakfast pie. But with everyone staying home these days, sales during the morning daypart have all but disappeared, CNN Business reports.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said that “breakfast is down” compared to other dayparts, while Jose Cil, CEO of Restaurant Brands International, owner of Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons, said that snacking and breakfast “have seen a disproportionate decrease, while lunch and dinner have shown more strength.”
Because breakfast is easy to eat at home, it makes sense the AM meal would suffer while Americans stick it out at home. However, reduced breakfast sales will hurt the fast-food industry, which had been trying to keep customers and grab new ones even pre-Covid-19 using breakfast options. “The loss of breakfast is a heavy blow,” said Sara Senatore, a senior research analyst of restaurants for Sanford C. Bernstein. “That will have implications for which chains see the biggest decline in their volumes.”
Analysts also predicted that the morning meal will be one of the last to recover after things return to normal. Wendy’s might be the exception, given the marketing push it had ahead of its nationwide breakfast menu launch in March. “Breakfast performed extremely well out of the gate,” said CEO Todd Penegor. “Across the industry [breakfast] has been hit very hard," he said. "But we are very pleased with the advertising support that we've had out there. … We've been able to get folks to come out and continue to try our great breakfast offerings.”
QSRs still view breakfast as an important part of its long-term strategy. “As we start to really get into the recovery phase, getting back that breakfast business is going to be critical for us,” said Kempczinski.
For more about how convenience stores can win with breakfast, read “Rise & Shine” from the January 2020 issue of NACS Magazine.
Day part Food safety Menu segments QSR
