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NPD Group: Breakfast daypart marketing opportunities abound

October 11, 2011

An increasing amount of concepts are trying their hand at breakfast, and for good reason. According to a recent study by marketing research firm The NPD Group, 31 million Americans skip breakfast every day, which presents a big opportunity for the industry.

"With 31 million people skipping breakfast each day there is a significant opportunity for food and beverage marketers to reach these consumers," said Dori Hickey, director, product management at NPD and author of the study titled Morning MealScape 2011.

NPD's Morning MealScape 2011 study, which focused on the situational factors and attitudinal drivers affecting consumers' food and beverage choices in the morning, finds that males 18-34 have the highest incidence of skipping (28 percent) whereas those adults 55 and older have the lowest incidence of skipping (11 percent for males, ages 55 and older, and 10 percent for females in this age range) among adults.

Among children, the incidence of skipping — percent of individuals who are up, but don't eat or drink anything in the morning — increases as children age with 13-to-17-year-olds having the highest incidence (14 percent) of skipping.

"Marketing messages emphasizing the importance of having a morning meal should be age- and gender-specific in order to increase their effectiveness. To convert teens, a two-pronged approach may be necessary – one that appeals directly to teenagers; the other to provide strategies for parents of teens," Hickey said.

Among the reasons individuals give for not eating or drinking anything prior to 11 a.m. is that they weren't hungry/thirsty or didn't feel like eating or drinking. Other top reasons are that they didn't have time and were too busy. Adult females show a higher propensity to skip a morning occasionally due to a time constraint.

For those who do eat a morning meal, three-fourths have their morning meals, snacks and beverages in their home. Approximately one in five consume foods and beverages in the morning both at-home and away-from-home on a typical day; and 14 percent of individuals have their morning meals away from home.

NPD's Morning MealScape 2011 study included 27,179 participants, both adults and children (parents answered on behalf of their children, age 2-5). Participants reported on consumption behavior from the time they got up until 11 a.m.

Read more about trends and statistics.