Breakfast, Back on the Menu

A year after COVID disrupted our daily routines, buying breakfast looks to be back on the menu according to our Foot Traffic data, quantifying a trend that’s been discussed in the news and restaurant industry publications.

In aggregate, morning visitation (6am to 11am) at restaurant chains dropped precipitously with the outbreak of COVID, reached a plateau shy of pre-COVID levels over the summer, then pulled back in winter. However, in the last couple of weeks, morning visitation shot up and is now up ~20% relative to just a few weeks prior in February.

With by far the largest number of stores and visits, the breakfast resurgence at McDonald’s share is 3pts above the start of last year. Next is Starbucks, trailing its pre-COVID share by 6pts. Dunkin’ meanwhile has increased by 2pts. Wendy’s and Burger King each increased by 1pt, while Taco Bell remained flat.

With vaccination rates increasing, it will be interesting to see whether the mornings continue to grow.

[Tickers included in this analysis: $MCD, $SBUX, $DNKN, $WEN, $QSR, $YUM]