Fall in consumer demand for out-of-home breakfasts

Despite eating out less, the average consumer spend at breakfast has increased from £7.31 to £10.09 (up 31%).  

The net effect, however, is a fall in consumer spend at breakfast of £56M in just the last two years, the company said.  

Its latest research revealed that only 4% of consumers said they would eat breakfast out of the home on a daily basis compared to 15% in 2015.

Meanwhile, the average spend in the north-east was just £9, with almost a third (31%) saying they wouldn’t pay over £5 and 14% saying they would never eat breakfast out of the home.

Regionally, it’s the Scottish that are likely to pay the most for their breakfast with the regional average at £11 – on a par with London

While the average spend has increased by 31%, the drastic drop in frequency has led to a significant drop in the estimated daily spend, which was £76m in 2015 compared to £20m now.

Beacon managing director Paul Connelly said: “These new figures show a behaviour change at breakfast, where consumers are spending more, but eating out less.

“This highlights the potential impact that inflationary pressures in the foodservice market are having on the hospitality industry. In the past year alone we’ve seen various price increases in food and drink items, specifically bacon and other fresh produce and most recently significant price increases in coffee.”

He predicts that 2017 could be a challenging year for pub operators as food costs continue to increase.