McDonald's to serve McMuffins all day: What's behind the breakfast craze?
Egg McMuffins for dinner? The wait is almost over.
After months of testing in markets across the country, McDonald鈥檚 has set a date for the rollout of all-day breakfast at more than 14,300 restaurants nationwide: Oct. 6. The expansion marks the fast food chain鈥檚 biggest operational change in years as the company strives to revive slumping sales and a stale brand image, .
More broadly, the move reflects a growing fondness among American consumers for eating breakfast out 鈥� a trend that the restaurant industry has rushed to cash in on.
鈥淭his is the consumers鈥� idea. This is what they want us to do,鈥� McDonald鈥檚 USA President Mike Andres told the Journal. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I think this could be the catalyst for our turnaround.鈥�
For the last few years, breakfast has been the brightest spot in the restaurant business. More than 12.5 billion breakfast visits were made to US foodservice outlets in 2013, up 3 percent from the year before, . Fast food in particular has benefited: Breakfast generated $34.5 billion in sales for the industry last year, and now accounts for 21 percent of the 45 billion customer visits to fast food restaurants, .
"More than anything, fast food breakfast satisfies the need for convenience," NPD restaurant analyst Bonnie Riggs told the paper. "It's been growing year after year, so there is demand."
But it wasn鈥檛 always this way. In the 1600s, breakfast consisted of nothing more than leftovers or cheese and bread, Abigail Carroll, food historian and author of 鈥淭hree Squares: The Invention of the American Meal,鈥� . Meat was added to the mix in the 18th and 19th centuries, but for a long time breakfast 鈥渓ooked a lot like ... a snack,鈥� Ms. Carroll said.
So how did Americans go from eating last night鈥檚 leftovers to serve 鈥渂reakfast food鈥� all day?
The shift began in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when the Industrial Revolution drove people into cities. 鈥淧eople were still eating a farmer鈥檚 diet, but they were shifting to a more sedentary lifestyle, which caused indigestion,鈥� Carroll .
That led dietary reformers such as Sylvester Graham to push forward new ideas 鈥� 鈥� for combating the ailment. Soon, breakfast grew to be regarded as 鈥渢he most important meal of the day鈥� 鈥� a phrase likely coined in 1917 , then edited by cornflake co-inventor John Harvey Kellogg.
At the same time, the switch to urban, factory-driven lifestyles transformed people鈥檚 work schedules, and thus their eating habits, Carroll said. Unable to go home in the middle of the day for the traditional noon 鈥渄inner,鈥� for instance, Americans began packing quick, easy lunches 鈥� sandwiches, pies, biscuits 鈥� saving the evenings for sit-down, family-oriented affairs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the meal that shapes work,鈥� Carroll said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 the work that shapes the meal.鈥�
The same is true for today鈥檚 breakfast craze. 鈥淎s our lifestyles have shifted, so have our morning routines,鈥� . 鈥淭he trends that are driving Americans' desires to be plugged in and productive are also driving the way they fuel up at the start of each day.鈥�
And while more health-conscious consumers means that the most successful breakfast campaigns tout tasty, fresh ingredients, convenience is still king, regardless the time of day, according to Nielsen. Hence the rise of a more diverse array of breakfast items at fast-food restaurants: think the eggs Benedict sandwich at Dunkin鈥� Donuts and the waffle taco at Taco Bell.
For McDonald鈥檚, which has traditionally dominated the quick-service breakfast industry, that means Egg McMuffins all day long.
鈥淲ith the increasingly busy lifestyles we lead today, consumer interest is definitely stemming from the blurring of normal meal periods,鈥� Annika Stensson, director of research communications at the National Restaurant Association, . 鈥淲ho doesn鈥檛 like some good pancakes, no matter what time of day it is?鈥�
