Magazine: Take-away breakfasts can be a new direction

Because of the change in people’s lifestyle and habits, and because families are getting smaller, more people eat out more often. Due to a lack of time, many people do things on the go: they make phone calls, read and eat. Experience is that it is mostly the first meal of the day that is eaten out of home, but to skip breakfast completely would be a bad idea because of health considerations. Everyone has to or ought to have breakfast – even more so because the number of people who only eat twice a day (in the morning and in the evening) is growing. It is very interesting that guests also like to eat breakfast courses later in the day. Because of the new lifestyle breakfast means something completely different than 25-30 years ago. A greater variety of food is available for a longer period of time.

These days the breakfast period lasts from 6-7 a.m. until noon and this period can be divided into 3 or 4 parts: the first one lasts from 6 until 8 and those belong here who go to work or to secondary school. They like to eat fast and cheap, usually on the go. In the second group we find those who go to work later and university students. They go to a place and sit down to eat between 8 and 10; they are more ‘picky’ than those in group one and more health conscious too. The third group also eats between 8 and 10 – they eat business breakfast. This alternative to business dinner is less formal and requires complete service from the café or restaurant. In the fourth group we find tourists who eat a lot, comfortably after 10. Most breakfast places can be found in the city centre, in the business quarter, near universities, tourist attractions and busy traffic hubs. A rather new phenomenon is that several places where breakfast can also be eaten are situated right next to each other in shopping malls. In metropolises all over the world an increasing number of museums and cinemas also offer breakfast.

What is the situation with restaurants? Well, for them breakfast is just a complimentary service like the lunch menu – but it could play a really important role. Cafés open relatively early and once they are open, they might as well serve breakfast. A few simple courses would do and perhaps it is also a good idea to do home delivery. It is needless to say that the composition of the breakfast menu is of key importance: the cornerstone is coffee, everything else should be built around it. The menu should be changed every now and then so that it does not become boring. It is also worth following the changes of the seasons. Where buffet breakfast is available, owners must take care that even the last guests find a wide selection of food and not a devastated table. Breakfast is good business – café and restaurant owners only have to find out how to profit from it.