Today’s breakfast menu: contemporary twists on tried and true favourites

THE CHANGING HABITS of Australian consumers is driving evolution in the breakfast market, both in terms of the range of menu offerings and the times at which they’re offered.

The breakfast menus that are trending today can best be described as ‘tricked up’ contemporary twists on tried and true favourites, with some unusual flavour combos added in. Traditional cereals are being supplanted by more exotic grains such as quinoa and freekeh, and even toast has evolved through the availability of sourdough and wider selection of grain breads, topped with such ingredients as herbal jams with roasted banana.

Darren O’Brien, National Account Manager for Tip Top Foodservice, says breakfast burgers are rapidly growing in popularity: “What people are doing is replacing a meat pattie with a sausage pattie or serving egg and bacon burgers – this is tying in to the all-day breakfast trend, and we’re even seeing these types of meals being offered at dinner. People love that, because your go-to breakfast is always comfort food, so that’s fast becoming something to be enjoyed at any time of the day.”

A key benefit of such meals is they’re economical to produce and easy for consumers to eat on the run as desired – which is fast becoming a key component of urban breakfast menus, as consumers stop off for coffee and food on their morning dash to the office. Breakfast sandwich builds are also trending high, Darren reports – “Tip Top makes Super Thick White Toast, which is twice the size of normal toast, and we’re seeing sandwiches and burgers being built on them. In the US they call them Patty Melts and they’re becoming a big thing – customers like the soft bread which isn’t too sweet, and because it’s thick it holds heat well. When you build the sandwich the sauces and fats will make the bread go soft and disintegrate if it’s too soft or sweet, so it makes sense to choose a bread which will hold its shape as well as the heat.”

All-day breakfasts in demand

Another emerging trend is sweet and savoury blends – like topping raisin toast with blue cheese, prosciutto and fig. Even crumpets are getting into the act – traditionally a winter breakfast food, they’re now popular all year round and being served with sweet and savoury combos such as bacon and egg with sweetened avocado.

“I’ve recently even seen the fact that Golden crumpets are a vegan product being called out, for example a vegan lime cheesecake crumpet on the menu, or crumpets topped with sweetened avocado and lime,” Darren says. “Even though they’re vegan recipes they have broad appeal across your customer base. I think vegan food is a natural fit within the breakfast market, even your breakfast burger patties can be plant-based because there are so many great products on the market for that right now.”

At Charlies Café and Bar in busy Cavill Mall in the heart of Surfers Paradise, all-day breakfast features prominently on the menu as it does in many of the surrounding cafes – it’s an option the tourist trade has come to expect. “There’s always somebody coming in wanting to order breakfast, we cater for everyone from surfers to new arrivals with jetlag,” reports owner Jess.

The menu is changed seasonally based on customer demand and current favourites include smashed avocado with grilled haloumi, rocket and poached egg and a breakfast surf burger. Jess was serving both sourdough and Turkish bread on the breakfast menu but reports that since changing to Speedibake’s new pre-sliced sourdough the demand for Turkish has dropped off. “I was using a different brand but the rep from Tip Top Foodservice gave me samples of their sourdough and it was far superior, plus the fact it’s pre-sliced, comes frozen and defrosts to virtually a fresh product makes it a better choice for me.” He says toasties made with sourdough are a massive seller not just at breakfast but all day long as are freshly made bruschetta. 

‘Mashup’ flavours a hit at breakfast

John Bryers of specialist bakery supplier Aryzta Food Solutions, which markets a range of frozen pre-proven, par bake and thaw and serve products into hotels, cafes and bakeries, says breakfast danishes with contemporary “mashup” flavours such as mango-passionfruit  and raspberry-vanila are in demand. Another relative newcomer to the breakfast scene is the savoury strudel in what John calls “super funky flavours”: spinach and feta, sundried tomato and mushroom, pumpkin and feta lattice. “These are very popular at breakfast bars, where you can serve a larger size for a sit-down meal and a smaller one as a grab and go option,” he says.

The American tradition of serving sweet filled soft buns at breakfast is also making inroads to our menus. “Cinnabuns and swirls are starting to turn up in cafes and bakeries in the inner-city, and look like they may be the next big thing, like brioche was when it first took off here,” John tells us. Meal deals which combine these products with coffee are also driving profitability for many cafes by increasing order sizes, as John explains: “We find around eight per cent of customers will buy two products for breakfast – like a coffee and a croissant – without prompting, but when you offer a meal deal of beverage and croissant, muffin or danish that figure jumps up to 25 per cent. More people will purchase when you offer a meal deal so that’s a great way to boost sales.”

With breakfast now one of the busiest periods for café staff, demand is also growing for readymade products which cut down on labour time and remove the need for from-scratch preparation: even for breakfast staples like avocado toast. Edgell has recently introduced Chunky Avocado Pulp made using cold pasteurisation technology and boasting a frozen shelf life of 18 months, designed to cut down on waste and labour at breakfast. As with many foodservice ingredients, it’s all about yield, as Simplot Executive Chef David White explains: “Raw avocados provide a yield of approximately 40 per cent after they’re pitted, peeled and trimmed, but this is 100 per cent usable product with zero loss. And when you factor in labour, the cost of using raw fruit goes even higher – but with this there’s no labour required because it comes ready made and frozen so all you have to do is defrost and serve.”