For Restaurants, 2013 Was The Year Of Breakfast

According to a recent report from The NPD Group (formerly National Purchase Diary), Americans increased their morning meals in restaurants by three percent in the last year, "while traffic for most other day parts fell." The Port Washington, an independent research firm based in New York, found that 2013 also marks the third consecutive year of increased breakfast traffic overall (rising two percent in 2011, one percent in 2012, and three percent in 2013).

In the last year, however, lunch and dinner traffic declined one percent, according to NPD.

"Breakfast continues to be a bright spot for the restaurant industry, as evidenced by the number of chains expanding their breakfast offerings and times," Bonnie Riggs, NPD's industry analyst, said in a statement. "A restaurant morning meal serves a variety of needs. In addition to helping us jump-start our day, it satisfies the need for convenience, is less costly than other restaurant meals and is readily available to us."

In recent months, fast food companies have been scrambling to meet consumers' increased interest in breakfast, giving us items like the Waffle Taco and the A.M. Crunchwrap from Taco Bell, and the Eggs Benedict sandwich from Dunkin' Donuts. Meanwhile, McDonald's has reportedly been considering the idea of longer breakfast hours, as well as testing out breakfast pastries in San Diego. In fact, NPD has predicted that fast food companies' morning traffic will increase by nine percent over the next nine years, compared to seven percent for other dining concepts. Business Insider also has a detailed chart of the fast food battle to keep morning customers. 

Karen Lo is an associate editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @appleplexy.