Breakfast is big business, all day long

Convenience store operators seeking to grow or even just hold onto their breakfast business are facing stepped up competition from players in other trade channels, notably Dunkin’ Donuts, Canton, Mass., and Wendy’s International, Dublin, Ohio. Dunkin Donuts has launched a campaign to open many more outlets; it also has said that its breakfast sandwiches sell throughout the day. Wendy’s, meanwhile, has been busily rolling out an ambitious program to build breakfast trade.

Wendy's announced Aug. 22 that its new breakfast menu was available in 500 stores. Wendy’s said it expects to expand breakfast to nearly 750 U.S. and Canadian restaurants by the end of third quarter of 2007.

“Our breakfast expansion is on track with where we had planned to be at this stage,” said Wendy’s Chief Executive Officer and President Kerrii Anderson. “Reaching the 500-store level is a milestone, but far more gratifying is the repeat business we’re experiencing and the continuing positive feedback from customers about our fresh, high quality breakfast menu.”

Wendy’s breakfast menu features several signature items as both a la carte and combo meal options. Included are the Steak and Egg Breakfast sandwich, a Grande Breakfast Burrito and the Buttermilk Frescuit.

The Frescuit is a biscuit with egg, cheese and hickory-smoked bacon. Fresh-baked in Wendy’s restaurants, the moist, square biscuit is formulated to hold together and not crumble apart.

Wendy’s also offers a proprietary blend of premium Folgers Gourmet Selections coffee. Wendy’s Custom Bean by Folgers Gourmet Selections is made with 100% Arabica beans blended and slowly roasted for maximum flavor, according to the chain.

Additionally, Wendy’s is offering value-menu breakfast items, including sausage biscuits, a sausage and egg burrito, and cinnamon rolls. Some stores are also serving regional favorites, such as a chicken biscuit and sausage gravy and biscuits.

In what it describes as the largest store development agreement in its history, Dunkin' Donuts announced Aug. 23 a deal to open 105 new Dunkin' Donuts locations in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County within the next several years, according to an article by Tim Schooley in Pittsburgh Business Times.

The expansion plan is expected to include sites in freestanding outlets, strip mall locations and stores within convenience marts, according to the article, which also noted that the chain is undergoing a campaign to triple the number of Dunkin' Donuts stores in the United States to 15,000 by 2020.

The doughnut chain also continues to experiment with its breakfast offerings, introducing specific items for limited periods, possibly to see how they sell before deciding whether they should be retained on the menu. For example, for about six weeks early this year, the chain offered a breakfast sandwich called the Maple Cheddar Sandwich.

In introducing it, the company noted, “Demand for breakfast throughout the day has become so high that in 2006, Dunkin' Donuts saw an increase in sales of more than 10 percent for breakfast sandwiches.”