Either by accident or design (who’s to say?) the inaugural National Breakfast Awards was held on National Croissant Day – how apt I hear you call. The new kid on the awards block sets to recognise the growing importance of the breakfast occasion out of home with their aim to find the ultimate breakfast.

Long considered the most important meal of the day, over recent years we have seen an increase in consumers choosing to eat breakfast and brunch out of home. With cafes, hotels, pubs, high street chains, travel, B&I and quick service restaurants all seeing this growing meal occasion as an opportunity to drive profits. Of course the offer has to be right, as consumers become increasingly discerning and value conscious, so operators have had to up their game, a soggy bacon sandwich and a cup of tea in a polystyrene cup will no longer suffice.

The Inaugural National Breakfast Awards - Foodservice Marketing Agency - Jellybean Creative Solutions

Long been hyped as the next big thing, breakfast actually has the lowest participation rate of all the day parts according to MCA, but is indeed the fastest growing meal occasion up from 50.2% to 52.2% between 2016 and 2017. On the downside breakfast has seen a 5% decrease in frequency as consumer confidence dips in the wake of Brexit and discretionary spending is cut, however, average spend per head is up by 2% (although this is likely to be linked to current menu price inflation). The top four sectors for breakfast are coffee shop/cafés, fast food, pub restaurants and sandwich retailers, so it was little surprise to see cafés dominate when it came to the award winners.

The awards saw a day of frantic cooks-offs and judging at Westminster Kingsway College, which culminated in the presentation in the evening. Hosted by Jamie Robins, MD of H20, the awards were presented by Tristan, Henry and Joe from the H20 editorial team and saw the following winners walk away victorious…

– National Breakfast of the Year – Kevin Geyton of the Brigands Inn
– Breakfast Chef of the Year – Steve Bell of the Yellow Bicycle Café
– Smoothie of the Year – Kirsten Gilmour of the Mountain Café

As well as the stylish awards, which each winner will be sure to display in their establishments, the overall winner, Kevin Geyton of the Brigands Inn, received £1,000 cash, plus a Vitamix Smoothie Blender provided by Jestic. Well done to all those who made it through to the cook-offs and of course to H20 and the event sponsors on putting breakfast on the awards map.

Source: MCA Eating Out Report 2017

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