Belgians eat breakfast less often due to time constraints
Panos conducted a survey with 8,660 respondents about their breakfast habits which showed that strikingly fewer people take the time to consume their breakfast on a daily basis and a lack of time is increasingly being invoked as the cause. Coffee continues to remain the most popular breakfast drink but it’s losing ground compared to coffee specialties. However, Belgians continue to prefer a fairly classical breakfast.
Fact 1: Fewer people eat breakfast on a daily basis
76% of the Belgians eat breakfast daily in comparison to 81% in a previous survey from 2015. Half of the respondents (50%) state lack of time as the main reason while in 2015, this was only the case for 21%.
Fact 2: From coffee to ‘coffee speciality’
Coffee remains the most popular breakfast drink. More than 58% of the Belgians prefer a classic coffee to coffee specialities like cappuccino (16%) but these specialities are gaining ground nevertheless. In 2015, 64% opted for classic coffee and only 8% indicated that they preferred coffee specialities.
20% opts for tea (no change compared to 2015) and the list is concluded by water, milk, chocolate milk and fresh juice. The survey also shows that Belgians prefer freshly squeezed juice over store bought juice in the morning.
Fact 3: Classic breakfast remains popular
Bread and crusty bread rolls remain the most popular breakfast components, closely followed by pastries and cereal. Yogurt, fruit and a warm breakfast don’t do as well during weekdays but are very popular during the weekend. Striking: savoury spreads are becoming increasingly more popular compared to sweet spreads.
Fact 4: Speed over taste and variation
The new food pyramid is only taken into account by 8% whilst preparing a balanced breakfast. 23% of the Belgians claim to take ‘health’ into account when choosing their breakfast. For 36% of the Belgians, speed is of the essence and as a result 43% always goes for the same breakfast in which taste (23%) and variation (11%) are less important factors.
Fact 5: No weekend without brunch
During the weekend, 60% of the Belgians take the time to enjoy an extensive breakfast. What’s more: 33% pay more attention to flavour and 17% pay more attention to variation compared to a mid-week breakfast.
Methodology:
Panos conducted this breakfast survey online with 8,660 clients (27% male, 73% female) between the December 15th 2017 and January 31st 2018.
