Food & Beverage

Breakfast, lunch sales rebounding

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December 23, 2021

The breakfast daypart is rebounding, according to a report from The NPD Group.

Online and physical visits to restaurants for breakfast increased by 11% in the last three months ending Nov. compared to a 10% decline in the same period a year ago.

From a pre-pandemic view, breakfast traffic is now at the same level as the Sept. through Nov. period in 2019. Morning snack improved visits over the last three months by 6% compared to a 7% decline last year and down 1% for the same period in 2019, according to a press release. Lunch improved by 4% in the reported period compared to a year ago when visits were down by 11%, so beginning to recover but still 7% below pre-pandemic levels.

While hard-hit during the pandemic, dining on-premises is recovering — even during morning and lunch. Dining on-premises at restaurants for breakfast has also improved over the last three months. Visits to dine-in at breakfast increased by 51% in Sept. through Nov. this year compared to the same period in 2020 when on-premises traffic was down 55%. Morning snack also increased dine-in visits by 51% compared to the reported period last year when on-premises traffic declined by 48%. Lunch also improved on-premises traffic by 44% this Sept. through Nov. compared to the 60% decline in the same period in 2020. Despite these substantial gains in recent months, traffic levels for all dayparts at on-premises remain well-below pre-pandemic levels.

"The increased mobility this fall contributed to year-over-year gains at key restaurant dayparts, although visits are not fully back to pre-pandemic levels," David Portalatin, NPD food industry advisor, said in the release. "We're in a steady state for the next several months, perhaps with a bump up or down here and there, but we expect to lag pre-pandemic traffic levels through 2022 slightly."