Burgers for breakfast rise in popularity

27 March 2014 by
Burgers for breakfast rise in popularity

Britons are eating more burgers than ever for breakfast.

That's according to new research figures from the NPD Group, which studied what British consumers eat for the first meal of the day when out of the home.

It found that for the year ending December 2013, Britons consumed more than 100 million burgers when they had breakfast away from home, up more than 6% on 2012.

Around one in 12 out-of-home burger servings (8.6%) were eaten before 11am compared to one in 16 (6.2%) five years ago (to year ending December 2008).

Groups with children of up to 17 years of age are playing an important role in the growing popularity of burgers as a breakfast item, NPD said.

Five years ago, adults unaccompanied by children consumed more than 67% of burger servings eaten away from home in the 6am to 10:59am breakfast time slot. Groups with children up to 17 years of age ate the remaining 33%.

Despite that, bacon sandwiches are still the nation's favourite, with Britons eating 268 million of them for breakfast away from home in 2013.

Independent businesses accounted for 32.3% of those pre-11am bacon sandwich servings. This compared to 28.9% for 'small brands' (chains, but not large pan-GB businesses) and 39% for 'major brands'.

A total of 15.4% of the total bacon sandwich servings pre-11am were bought in the Workplace canteen, and 7.7% were in independent sandwich shops.

Jack MacIntyre, UK foodservice account manager for the NPD Group, said: "When people eat breakfast - perhaps on the way to work, or in the office, or as a treat at weekends - burgers are clearly growing in popularity. But the breakfast classics - servings of good old-fashioned bacon sandwiches, toast, eggs, sausage and baked beans - are unlikely to be toppled anytime soon. And, despite Britain's improving café culture, it doesn't look like continental breakfast favourites such as the croissant are going to sidetrack the appeal of the Great British Breakfast."

NPD's findings were based on a panel of consumers who reported what they had eaten out of home for breakfast, rather than on sales data.

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