Breakfast is not a choice option in our house. With two school-going children the rule is simple; its not if, but what. The trouble is fixing on the what. Making decisions is a challenge for most of us in the morning, for teenagers its almost insurmountable.
Managing choice and budgets is not easy. But how much are we conditioned by habit; from museli to bacon and eggs, from fresh fruit to pancakes. There is a core breakfast offer but how good are we at spinning the magic that sets things apart.
Specials by their very nature bring change and change, while challenging for some, also brings excitement. Balance is all. The familiar set against the new, the ordinary pushed up close against the extraordinary. With this picture comes discussion, ambition, appetite and eventually for some, a willingness to engage.
Take our cooked breakfast. A British institution, albeit one that is constantly being kicked out of health concerns. Yet there are myriad ways of delivering variations that are neither as challenging from a health perspective or as costly. A bacon butty; pancakes and fresh fruit; drop scones with yoghurt, honey and banana. Or maybe something even more challenging – masala omelette (chillies and red onion); tortilla toasted pizza style with fresh tomato salsa, egg, guacamole and black beans a la Mexicana. For all our global exposure we can seem very conservative!
With few exceptions the hotel buffet breakfast is rarely the embarrassment of riches we want it to be. Too much choice can be a bad thing. But rationing, in an engaging and fun way, can make for a dynamic and rewarding retail experience. Balance is all.
So what does this mean for me?: Stop doing breakfast the same way tomorrow. Take something away and then each day introduce something different. Do this for a week and then review. Note to self, if there is positive feedback tell Alison. If its negative send HA an e-mail and get him to sort it out!
Tell me what I should do: Take a look at some of the breakfast offerings on the websites of companies like Leon, Giraffe, Le Pain Quotidien and Granger and Co – avocado on rye with lime and coriander anyone?
