For the fourth consecutive year, The NPD Group is reporting that U.S. Foodservice Outlets are seeing an increase in breakfast customers, a 3% gain over last year. Quick service showed the strongest increase in breakfast visits, accounting for about 80% of total restaurant morning meals.

U.S. consumers cut back on their restaurant visits at lunch and supper in 2013, but increased their visits at breakfast for the fourth consecutive year, according to a report by The NPD Group, a global information company. Over 12.5 billion breakfast visits were made to U.S. foodservice outlets last year, a 3% gain over a year ago, according to NPD foodservice market research.

Quick service, which accounts for about 80 percent of total restaurant morning meals, showed the strongest increase in breakfast visits of all restaurant segments with a 4 percent increase in the year ending December 2013 period compared to year ago, reports NPD CREST®, which every day tracks how consumers use restaurants and other foodservice outlets. Morning meal visits to midscale/family dining restaurants declined by 3 percent.

The future also looks bright for foodservice breakfast, according to NPD’s A Look into the Future of Foodservice study. Total restaurant morning meal visits are forecast to grow by 7 percent over the next nine years, with quick service breakfast traffic expected to increase by 9 percent.

“Breakfast continues to be a bright spot for the restaurant industry as evidenced by the number of chains expanding their breakfast offerings and times,” says Bonnie Riggs, NPD’s restaurant industry analyst.  “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.”