Breakfast Trending High

The Food Channel, in partnership with CultureWaves and the International Food Futurists, has been able to identify the most significant breakfast trends for 2011, from energy drinks and fresh coffee prepared at home, to oatmeal served all day long.

“In our breakfast survey of food channel readers, one thing quickly became clear: most of us still recognize breakfast as the most important meal of the day,” said Kay Logsdon, editor of The Food Channel. “It’s all new, though. Now it’s OK to eat chocolate for breakfast, and we are eating our morning meal in two parts – grabbing the first cup of coffee at home and adding to it with something at the office.”

Here are The Food Channel Top Ten Breakfast Trends in 2011:

1. Oatmeal in Overdrive – oatmeal is becoming a real mainstream staple.
2. Chocolate for Breakfast – with its healthful benefits, chocolate is being promoted as a breakfast product.
3. Fast Foods Battle Over Breakfast – the breakfast daypart has become the key battleground in the quick service restaurant category.
4. Haute Coffee Comes Home – to save money, caffeine-seekers are opting to brew their own coffee at home.
5. Ethnic Invasion – global influences start to creep into the morning meal.
6. Beverage Choice Choke – breakfast drink menus keep expanding beyond coffee and O.J.
7. Hot Pizza in the A.M. – pizza is predicted to be one of the hottest menu items for breakfast.
8. Breakfast Ingredients All Day Long – breakfast ingredients work their way into other parts of the daily menu.
9. The Breakfast Two-Step – a pattern of people fueling up with caffeine and protein in a two-stage process: at home and then at work.
10. Eggs Crack the Top Ten – eggs to hatch a big comeback this year.