James Tenser

Starting the Day the Homemade Way

March 4, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
For those perennially rushing from pillar to post, fast food restaurants have proved obliging. But examples of recent declines at Burger King, McDonald's, 7-Eleven and Wendy were cited as evidence of economic concerns. Do you agree the downturn has increased the at-home breakfast opportunity for grocery stores?      [more...]

Unemployment data are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to QSR breakfast trends. The stats overlook the huge numbers of working people who have had hours cut, overtime eliminated, and wages flattened or even reduced. These folks are earning less and are likely to look for places to trim the fat (pun intended)--the take-away breakfast sandwich and lattes are good places to start.

Supermarkets can pick up some of this business, I should think. When a box of cereal costs less than one Grand Slam and a pound of coffee less than two Venti caramel macchiatos, there's a gap to exploit. Was it Walmart that recently ran an ad suggesting how a family could save hundreds of dollars per year by fixing breakfasts at home with Walmart-bought ingredients?

This situation is a share-of-wallet opportunity that cries out for solution selling at the supermarkets. Sorry QSR brethren: for the near-term at least, your breakfast growth is likely to be flat at best.