In today’s competitive foodservice environment, an enticing breakfast menu can help eateries draw a significant share of the market.

Price, though, is a growing concern for both consumers and operators.

Wholesale food costs have risen nearly 5% since July 2024. Menu prices also increased — by an average of 0.4% a month between February and July — and are now nearly 4% more than in July 2024.^{1, 2}

Restaurant patrons are paying more for numerous popular breakfast items. Avian flu outbreaks helped more than double wholesale egg prices between January 2024 and September 5; some restaurants have added surcharges for meals that contain eggs, and the median omelet price is 5.4% higher year-over-year.^{3, 4, 5, 6}

With shrinking margins — restaurants’ average pretax income was 5% of sales in 2019 but just 2.8% at full-service eateries in 2024 — a number of operators are trying to cut spending to offset volatile ingredient expenses. Carefully crafting a lineup of delectable, affordable dishes, made with versatile ingredients like All-Natural Hardwood-Smoked Heritage by Hatfield^TM Bacon, can help them achieve that goal — and provide diners with the array of choices they crave.⁷

Scroll ahead for information about in-demand elements you may want to incorporate into your breakfast menu — and five delicious recipes that feature bacon and other breakfast meats.

Infuse Items With International Flair

Two out of three consumers say they’re open to trying new global cuisines.⁸ 

Millennials — ages 28 to 43 — who say they’d like large chains to provide more Mediterranean, Japanese and Greek fare, might respond well to items such as the fried eggs served with pita and bacon that Daddy Jones in Somerville, Massachusetts, whips up for weekend brunch.⁹

Gen Z members, ranging from 12 to 27 years old, tend to look for new experiences and spicy dishes and ingredients. Japanese, Spanish and Korean food are the top global cuisines they wish restaurant chains would offer; they’re also the generation most likely to choose global dishes for breakfast.^{9, 10}

Generally, Americans order some types of global fare primarily when they’re at a restaurant. Consumers are more than four times more likely to eat Japanese and Korean dishes away from home, for instance — presenting a potential opportunity for operators that can prepare items from those regions.⁹

Increasingly, some restaurants are offering breakfast ordering options that feature flavors and formats from cuisine in Japan, Korea, Spain and other countries — such as miso, Manchego and kimchi — in addition to popular U.S. morning meal elements.¹¹

Breakfast spot Egg Harbor Café, for instance, which has locations in Illinois, Georgia and Wisconsin, has served a bibimbap made with diced bacon, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage and green onions sautéed in butter and gochujang sauce that’s topped with a sunny-side-up egg.

Make Meat the Main Focus

U.S. adults’ interest in protein has grown steadily in the past five years; a high-protein diet is Americans’ most common eating pattern, and 70% say they’re trying to consume the nutrient.¹²

While eggs are the most common source found in restaurant breakfast items, meats like pork actually have a heftier protein content. A serving of cured, cooked restaurant bacon, for example, provides 41 grams of protein; a large egg has just under 11 grams.¹³

To cost-effectively diversify their menu with options that could help customers feel full longer, in lieu of purchasing additional ingredients for complex, new, meat-oriented dishes, operators can incorporate pork, bacon and sausage — the second, third and fourth most popular restaurant breakfast menu meats — in different ways.¹⁴

Chain restaurants have been spotted serving some inventive takes on classic breakfast proteins: flavored bacon, for example — such as the new Heritage by Hatfield^TM Maple Bourbon Thick Cut Bacon — which can add pizzazz to a breakfast meal.¹⁵

Lean Into Substantial Handhelds 

Return-to-office mandates may have prompted a rise in commuter-related traffic for restaurants — more than a third (34%) of employees are now required to work on-site daily, and 30% are expected to be in the office three or four days a week.¹⁶

In the first quarter of 2025, breakfast delivery rose 15% year-over-year; takeout transactions increased 4%.⁶

Savvy quick-service and other restaurants have honed in on breakfast-related business possibilities, upping their PR efforts and introducing hearty menu items that can be eaten on the go.

Panera Bread’s bakery and cafés, for example, began serving a new lineup of sweet and savory selections in summer 2024 that included a Bacon Double Take Sandwich — a cheesy, egg-filled combination that features twice the amount of applewood-smoked bacon as the eatery’s traditional breakfast sandwiches. 

In July, Portillo’s, which had previously focused on Italian beef sandwiches, hot dogs and other lunch and dinner fare, began testing a breakfast menu in 10 of its Chicago-area locations that consists of dishes such as a croissant sandwich made with scrambled eggs, bacon and American cheese. 

Convenience can play a key role in fast-food breakfast purchasing decisions; but that isn’t the only component consumers want. Food cravings and a desire for specific items consumers like drive more than half of all off-premise ordering decisions.¹⁷

With a growing need for quick-to-obtain breakfast options that will give workers a strong start to the day, operators may benefit from offering a menu composed of satisfying, potentially portable dishes like a Japanese donburi rice bowl topped with bacon and eggs — or one of the following protein-packed breakfast recipes.

Southwest Breakfast Bowl

Heritage By Hatfield™ Black Pepper Thick Cut Bacon is the star of this flavor-packed morning meal, which also includes sweet potatoes, black beans, avocado and eggs that can be prepared multiple ways.

Breakfast Poutine Biscuit

This savory start-of-the-day dish pairs a Hatfield® breakfast sausage patty and applewood bacon with sweet-potato fries, egg and cheese curds.

Breakfast Bao Flight

Diners looking for a variety of flavors can sample different tastes — avocado and applewood bacon, plus egg, cheese and sausage — with this dual breakfast dish.

Bacon Breakfast Bagel Sandwich

This thick-cut bacon can be the centerpiece for a classic grab-and-go sandwich. Plus, it’s easily customizable using different cheese and bagel flavors.

Pumpkin Spice Bacon Jam with Butternut Squash

Hatfield® Pumpkin Spice Thick Cut Bacon, chopped and simmered with onions, jalapeño peppers, coffee and maple syrup, gives this accoutrement for roasted butternut squash a unique flavor profile.

Visit https://clemensfoodservice.com/products/hatfield/ to learn more about current breakfast menu trends.

[SOURCES]

1. Food Costs, National Restaurant Association, August 14, 2025
2. Menu Prices, National Restaurant Association, August 12, 2025
3. Egg Markets Overview, United States Department of Agriculture, September 5, 2025
4. Egg Markets Overview, USDA, January 5, 2024
5. “Is Your Favorite Restaurant Charging You Extra for Eggs? What to Know About Egg Surcharges,” USA Today, March 18, 2025
6. “Omelette Prices Exceed $14, and More Breakfast Trends from 2025,” Toast, June 5, 2025
7. “New Association Report Helps Operators Gauge Their Restaurant Performance,” National Restaurant Association, August 20, 2025
8. Top Food Trends 2024, Innova Market Insights, April 15, 2024
9. Generational Preferences: Unveiling Global Flavor Trends: Restaurant Edition, SupHerb Farms, April 2024
10. Global Flavors Keynote Report, Datassential, July 2025
11. The World of Breakfast, Datassential, February 2024 
12. Americans’ Perceptions of Protein, International Food Information Council, July 2025
13. FoodData Central Foundation Foods, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2019
14. Breakfast: Proteins Instant Chart, Datassential, September 7, 2025
15. The World of Breakfast Proteins, Datassential, March 2024
16. The Flex Report Q3 2025, Flex Index, August 27, 2025
17. Off-Premise Keynote Report, Datassential, April 2025