Wake up to breakfast

BREAKFAST is growing in importance across the hospitality industry and the clearest indication of this is the fact that the market is segmenting, with many different types of breakfast being taken up enthusiastically. Breakfast is no longer mere sustenance, it's becoming a dining occasion, and everyone who serves food should take a serious look at the most important meal ofthe day.

Breakfast menus are growing in response to differing demands from consumers. Frequent business travellers will often demand a quicker, lighter breakfast than people travelling for pleasure, while business travellers from abroad may want their own breakfast foods. "Power" breakfasts, staff canteens and weekend or special occasion breakfasting all have their own different requirements.

Most hotels now see breakfast as too important a meal to hand over to the most inexperienced commis, as was common practice in the past. Breakfast is seen as an important generator of revenue and goodwill.

At Stakis Hotels, breakfast makes up 10% of food sales, with 1.6m breakfasts served each year. But for Stakis, breakfast is even more important than the figures suggest, according to managing director Anthony Harris. "In terms of customer perception, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. With 80% of our customers eating breakfast, we decided to revamp it because customers will be able to perceive most quickly that we are improving," Harris says.

scottish roots

With an eye towards differentiating their breakfast, Stakis decided to capitalise on its roots with a Scottish breakfast. "This takes the best of British but adds to it with cloutie dumplings, potato pancakes, haggis - and also allows us to go into vegetarian hot foods like porridge," he says. To that, fresh fruit, cheeses, cold meats, breads, yogurt, cereals and smoked fish were added.

Breakfast chefs have been moved into the dining room to prepare eggs, omelettes and pancakes to order, and guests are served tea and toast within two minutes of sitting down. Coffee has also been upgraded, with special espresso corners and freshly brewed cafetiäres as standard.

"We're seeing a real return in customer satisfaction," Harris says, adding: "They comment on breakfast now where they never did before. We're getting regular exposure on TV and radio, and we also have more people eating with us - food sales are up 1-2%." While choice was expanded, purchasing was rationalised so food costs have been cut.

At the Swallow Hotel, Birmingham, chef de cuisine Jonathan Harrison says breakfasts have always been "pushed". "It's the last meal people have with us and we want it to be as memorable as a restaurant meal.

restaurant boost

"Also, if we have residents who haven't eaten in the restaurant but who have a good breakfast with us, that might encourage them to eat in the restaurant in the evening," he says. The Swallow's breakfast chef was a former chef de partie - "and if he doesn't turn out at breakfast it's me who gets dragged out of bed," Harrison says.

All breakfasts are plated and a full breakfast is £12.75 (£7.85 for Continental). As well as the expected fresh fruits and juices, home-made muesli and yogurt, fruit coulis and compotes, Harrison's brigade offer customers croissants (chocolate, Gruyäre and wild mushroom) and Danish pastries (apricot and fig) made on the premises. Harrison also serves a breakfast special of the day, which is offered verbally; for instance, bacon and Gruyäre soufflé omelette and glazed ring of poached fruits and yogurt.

At the Hotel Inter-Continental at London's Hyde Park Corner breakfast represented 15% of food and beverage for the month of December, according to food and beverage manager Sheila Mooney. But with room rates up generally, guests are demanding more, she says. Fresh fruit is essential at the Coffee Shop, one of the hotel's breakfast outlets, which always has eight types of tropical fruit - mango and papaya are the most requested for room service - as well as lots of yogurts, muffins and low-fat, sugar-free kugelhopf.

"A lot of customers go for the comfort, cholesterol-laden breakfasts," she says, confirming the view of the British Tourist Authority (BTA) that Britain is famous for two meals: breakfast and afternoon tea. "The Italians, French and Germans really love English breakfast and even if they're on a package they'll happily pay a surcharge for it." For businessmen on the go, Mooney reveals that they can have their breakfast on the hoof, all packed up and ready to be taken into a waiting car.

According to the BTA, 60-70% of hotel guests in London are from overseas, but outside London that picture changes with only 13-14% overseas guests in the rest of the country, rising to 20% in tourist hot spots. The top three markets are France, USA and Germany. Although Japan is not even in the top 10, as a group its nationals are high spenders and tend to come for longer stays, so hotels cater for Japanese guests.

Which is why many of London's five-star hotel dining rooms are offering Japanese breakfasts. Just like the notional traditional English breakfast, Japanese breakfasts don't vary that much and the one at the Savoy is fairly typical - miso soup, steamed rice, teriyaki salmon, a Japanese egg omelette, deep-fried fish with marinated vegetables, dried seaweed, pickles and green tea (£26.50).

At Bank on London's Kingsway, breakfast was always part of the plan, according to director and front of house manager Eric Garnier. "The idea was to be open before anyone reaches their office in the morning, to warm the place up," he says. Customers stop in on their way to work to make bookings for lunch or dinner.

And while breakfast is a success in its own right, with 30 breakfasts booked every day between 7:30am and 8:30am, Garnier is certain that the quality of Bank's breakfast offering has also bumped up lunch and dinner business.

Popular breakfast items are fishcakes with poached eggs, scrambled eggs with smoked haddock, and a full English (more popular with men than women), all at £9.95, including cereal, tea or coffee, breads and jam, served until 10:30am. After that, only the Continental breakfast of three croissants, juice and coffee with refills, at £6.95, is served until noon.

health and convenience

Clients have the same level of expectation from staff feeding operations, with health and convenience coming to the fore, according to John Wood, director of CCG UK, part of Granada Food Services. "We have experienced an upsurge in breakfast uptake over the last year," he says, with a record 40% increase at one location, 60% of which was in take-away.

Healthy options include "make your own muesli" and "make your own yogurt" bars, with take-away pots. Items include toasted oat flakes, sesame seeds, pine nuts, hazelnuts, toasted coconut, dried apple and apricot, fresh dates, live natural yogurt, skimmed milk and honey. There are 10 fresh juice items including several vegetable juices such as gazpacho, celery and tomato, and carrot and ginger.

On the corporate hospitality side, Wood says Continental options are more popular than full English, but as a perfect compromise between the two, CCG has created a hybrid - breakfast canapés, including savoury muffins, crumpets and warm breakfast club sandwiches. All of which makes breakfast sound increasingly like a dining occasion rediscovered. n