Lunch overtakes breakfast as Britain's fastest-growing meal occasion

Younger diners power the noon rise, with a third of them now dropping their morning plate.

Consumers are squeezing how they eat towards the middle ground each weekday, lifting demand at midday whilst morning and late-night dining declines, a new study finds.

Lunch is experiencing the strongest growth of any meal, with nearly one in five consumers (19%) saying they eat it more often than a year ago, compared with 14% who report eating dinner more frequently, according to the latest Emerging Trends report from consumer intelligence business Vypr.

The trend is particularly pronounced among younger adults, with 33% of 25 to 34-year-olds and 30% of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they now eat lunch more often than a year ago. Vypr identified this as the key demographic responsible for much of the UK's out-of-home food spending.

Dinner remains Britain's most important meal, with almost three-quarters (74%) of adults eating it on a typical weekday and 62% identifying it as their most important meal. However, Vypr said the real commercial opportunity lay in the middle of the day, creating new openings for restaurants, cafés, pubs and QSR operators to strengthen their lunchtime offering.

Breakfast, by contrast, is losing momentum. Almost a quarter (24%) of consumers say they eat breakfast less often than a year ago, whilst 17% report eating a smaller breakfast and 13% say they have started skipping it altogether. Amongst 18 to 24-year-olds, breakfast skipping rises to 30%.

Vypr said the UK's eating day was effectively being compressed, with consumers eating later in the morning, earlier in the evening and reducing food occasions at both ends of the day. It noted the shift was already influencing the market, with major QSR operators including Greggs, Pizza Hut and Pret A Manger independently converging on lunchtime meal deals priced at around the £5 mark.

The research also found Britain's eating habits were becoming more structured than commonly assumed, with nearly four in ten adults (39%) eating two proper meals on a weekday and 37% eating three, suggesting consumers are replacing traditional meal occasions with fewer, more intentional eating moments supplemented by planned snacks.

"Britain's eating day is shifting towards the middle. The lunchtime offering is focussed on menu, price and promotion, with meal deals helping to increase trade," Joel Dixon, hospitality lead at Vypr, said, adding that breakfast had for years been a core growth occasion, but consumers were now telling a different story.

"Breakfast offerings need to be more innovative and on trend to capture the audiences, and operators able to do this will drive incremental sales. Healthier options, such as high protein, high fibre, and added functionality including collagen and matcha, will all appeal," Dixon added.