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Help Build Breakfast Sales with Chicken or Plant-Based Sausage
Written by Nation's Restaurant News
Published: February 11, 2025
Fully Cooked Options Can Help Operators Drive Traffic and Save Labor Costs
As breakfast sales rebound, operators are developing new menu items to attract consumers craving a delicious morning meal. The challenge for operators is to develop exciting new menu items while managing back-of-house costs. Consumers want on-trend foods, while kitchen crews need to streamline prep and cooking processes. One solution is to use fully cooked, flavorful chicken sausage and plant-based sausage.
According to the December 2023 Complete Consumer Insights Report from Circana, restaurant visits for morning meals grew 4% over the previous 12 months. While much of the growth was driven by Tuesday through Thursday visits by people commuting to work, another driver was younger consumers who sought ways to treat themselves.
What Consumers Want
Consumers of all ages are looking for foods that taste good and have better-for-you attributes. According to an April 2023 survey by the International Food Information Council, while 87% of adults said taste is still the main factor when deciding what food to purchase, healthfulness is also a key purchase driver, noted by 62% of respondents.
For breakfast, consumers are open to trying alternative versions of traditional proteins. That includes chicken instead of pork, plant-based instead of meat and low sodium versions of legacy foods. Price matters too. Foodservice operators know that consumers are still feeling inflationary pressures. According to Technomic, in its Breakfast Multi-Client Assessment 2024, 82% of operators say it’s important to customers to get good value. Technomic also reported that breakfast is a daypart that consumers show great affinity for, particularly in food-away-from-home.
Back-of-House Ease
Operators who want to drive traffic at breakfast can offer innovative, flavorful menu items that require minimal back-of-house prep. Jimmy Dean® brand from Tyson Foodservice offers a line of fully cooked, seasoned, easy to prepare sausage links and patties that make a great starting point for many breakfast items. For decades, the Jimmy Dean® brand has been known for traditional solutions like sausage and bacon, and now offers on-trend products such as chicken sausage and plant-based sausage.
By using fully cooked items, the kitchen staff can more easily prepare traditional breakfast sandwiches and have time to perform other tasks. Even better, the operational ease gives them freedom to find new ideas for on-trend breakfast sandwiches and more. Try substituting rolls for an everything bagel, brioche or waffle, or add a global twist with Venezuelan arepas, Brazilian cheese bread or any variety of flatbreads. Other globally inspired breakfasts include bowls, quesadillas and tarts, and fully cooked sausage can be a flavorful protein in any of these.
Here are some products that can help operators attract breakfast customers without adding complexity in the kitchen:
Jimmy Dean® Chicken Breakfast Sausage Patties are the lower-fat, full Jimmy Dean® brand flavor alternative to pork sausage. Jimmy Dean® Low Sodium Chicken Breakfast Sausage Patties the lower sodium and fat, full-on Jimmy Dean® brand flavor alternative to pork sausage. Both can be served as the center-of-plate protein surrounded by eggs, veggies, fruits, hash browns and a trending toast option, or as the main protein in an Everything Bagel Sausage Sandwich
Jimmy Dean® Chicken Breakfast Skinless Sausage Link 0.8 oz. are the lower-fat, full Jimmy Dean® brand flavor alternative to pork sausage. Jimmy Dean® Low Sodium Chicken Breakfast Skinless Sausage Links are the lower sodium and fat, full-on Jimmy Dean® brand flavor alternative to pork sausage. Both can be served as the center-of-plate protein surrounded by eggs, veggies, fruits, hash browns and a trending toast option, or split and cooked to make them the main protein in a Hawaiian roll breakfast slider with egg and cheese, and a side of maple syrup for dipping.
Plant-based is another hot trend right now, as consumers embrace a flexitarian approach to their diets. Jimmy Dean® Plant Based Breakfast Sausage Patties offer a meatless alternative for customers’ favorite protein breakfast dishes. They work well in savory meatless breakfast sandwiches, scrambles, frittatas and quiches, or as a protein side to sweeter fare like waffles and pancakes. They are already a customer favorite, as 61% of consumers agreed that Jimmy Dean® Plant Based Breakfast Sausage Patties significantly outperform the category’s top competitor in overall preference, in the 2023 Jimmy Dean® Foodservice Plant Based Breakfast Sausage Patties Validation Report.
Whether it’s a quick breakfast sandwich to go or a leisurely morning meal, the breakfast possibilities are endless with Jimmy Dean® Chicken Breakfast Sausage Patties and Links and Jimmy Dean® Plant Based Breakfast Sausage Patties.
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