Research: The Hispanic Breakfast Market, where are Hispanics having Breakfast?

America’s major fast food brands are battling for their share of the highly contested breakfast market. Consumer research firm Scarborough Research released an analysis of breakfast diners and the fast food establishments they patronize and found that, nationally, 37 percent of adults have eaten breakfast at a fast food restaurant in the past month. Portada’s editorial team obtained the Hispanic figures of the study and present the key elements in the following article.

The analysis also uncovered that in the battle for the most important meal of the day,McDonald’s holds the top spot. Among fast food (or quick service) breakfast diners, 49 percent of Hispanic adults dined at the Golden Arches for breakfast in the past month. Starbucks (19 percent), Dunkin' Donuts (17 percent) and Burger King (15 percent) round out the top four national fast food chains for breakfast diners. BK is aware of this situation and launched an advertising campaign focused on its breakfast services targeting Hispanics last week.

Differences between the general market and the Hispanic market can be seen by looking at the following figures: Hispanics breakfast fast food diners are 6% more likely than all breakfast fast food diners nationally to have eaten at McDonald’s for breakfast during the past month. Hispanics are 34% more likely than the general market to have eaten at Burger King, and 124% at Jack In The Box. Taco Bell (95%) and Wendy’s (81%) and Subway (81%) achieved good figures too. Considering, for example, that BK was chosen by 15% but has a 34% of Hispanics more likely to attend to BK, it has a good opportunity to grow among Hispanics.

Top fast food restaurants among Hispanics

(1) 49% of Hispanic adults who ate at a fast food restaurant for breakfast during the past month diner at McDonald's

(2) Hispanics breakfast fast food diners are 6% more likely than all breakfast fast food diners nationally to have eaten at McDonald’s for breakfast during the past month.

Breakfast Diner Demographics

People who enjoy fast food breakfast are 16 percent more likely than the average adult to be a member of Y (Generation ages 18-29), but among Hispanics these figure goes up to 61%. Meaning young Hispanics are much more likely to have breakfast at a fast food restaurant than other demographics sectors.

In the general market, adults who live in households with  annual incomes of $100K+ and those who have a college education or advanced degree are more likely to dine at fast food restaurants for breakfast than consumers from lower or less-affluent income brackets. For the Hispanic market the situation changes: households with annual incomes of $100,000 or less are more likely to dine at fast food restaurants than consumers with higher income.

The Breakfast Battle Online

Quick service breakfast diners are heavy Internet users. In addition to being 18 percent more likely than the average adult to spend 20+ hours online per week, they are more likely than the average adult to engage in a wide variety of internet behaviors, including:

• Social networking and other social behaviors such as:
• Fantasy sports (35 percent more likely than total adults to have played fantasy sports online during the past month)
• Social networking sites like Facebook (26 percent more likely)
• Instant messaging (24 percent more likely)
• Blogging (21 percent more likely)
• Obtaining news and information, such as:
• Weather information (15 percent more likely)
• Sports scores (23 percent more likely)
• News (16 percent more likely)
• Downloading material, such as:
• Music (25 percent more likely)
• Video games(21 percent more likely)
• Coupons (22 percent more likely)
• Movies (28 percent more likely)

Fast food breakfast diners are 22 percent more likely than the average adult to have downloaded an online coupon, and 29 percent more likely to typically receive coupons via email or text message. They are also more likely to use coupons for groceries or other services overall.

Active Lifestyles

People who eat breakfast at fast food restaurants have active lifestyles. They are 14 percent more likely than the average adult to belong to a health or fitness club. Additionally, they enjoy a wide variety of athletic activities, such as:

• Soccer: Fast food restaurant breakfast diners are 25 percent more likely than the average adult to have played soccer during the past year.
• Basketball (18 percent more likely)
• Tennis (18 percent more likely)
• Jogging/running (17 percent more likely)
• Golf (16 percent more likely)

Scarborough Local Market Ranking:

Top Local Markets for Adults who ate Breakfast at a Quick Service Restaurant During the Past 30 Days (DMA®, %)

Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem, NC 56%
Boston, MA 55%
Raleigh/Durham, NC 51%
Charlotte, NC 49%
Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville/Anderson, SC 49%
Providence/New Bedford, RI 49%
Chattanooga, TN 48%
Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA 47%
Knoxville, TN 46%
Charleston/Huntington, WV 45%
Little Rock/Pine Bluff, AR 45%
Atlanta, GA 45%
Lexington, KY 44%
Chicago, IL 44%
Birmingham, AL 44%
Hartford/New Haven, CT 43%
San Diego, CA 43%
Buffalo, NY 42%
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX 41%
Baltimore, MD 41%
Washington, D.C. 41%
Nashville, TN 41%
Louisville, KY 41%
Indianapolis, IN 40%
Miami/Ft.Lauderdale, FL 40%
New Orleans, LA 39%
Harlingen/Weslaco/Brownsville/McAllen, TX 39%
Houston, TX 39%
Richmond/Petersburg, VA 39%
Philadelphia, PA 38%
New York, NY 38%
Mobile, AL/Pensacola, FL 38%
Fresno/Visalia, CA 38%
Memphis, TN 38%
Los Angeles, CA 38%
Austin, TX 38%
Phoenix, AZ 37%
Norfolk/Portsmouth/Newport News, VA 37%
Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne, FL 37%
Las Vegas, NV 37%
Honolulu, HI 37%
Tulsa, OK 36%
Denver, CO 36%
Jacksonville, FL 36%
Albany/Schenectady/Troy, NY 36%
Columbus, OH 36%
Dayton, OH 36%
Oklahoma City, OK 36%
Fort Myers/Naples, FL 36%
Bakersfield, CA 36%
Cincinnati, OH 36%
St. Louis, MO 36%
Tampa/St.Petersburg, FL 35%
San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, CA 35%
Rochester, NY 35%
West Palm Beach/Fort Pierce, FL 35%
San Antonio, TX 35%
Albuquerque/Santa Fe, NM 35%
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA 35%
Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, CA 35%
Syracuse, NY 34%
Cleveland/Akron, OH 34%
El Paso, TX 33%
Kansas City, MO 32%
Detroit, MI 31%
Flint/Saginaw/Bay City, MI 31%
Colorado Springs/Pueblo, CO 30%
Pittsburgh, PA 30%
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN 30%
Portland, OR 29%
Milwaukee, WI 29%
Wichita/Hutchinson, KS 29%
Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, MI 28%
Seattle/Tacoma, WA 27%
Toledo, OH 26%
Spokane, WA 25%
Tucson, AZ 25%
Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/York, PA 25%
Green Bay/Appleton, WI 24%
Des Moines/Ames, IA 22%
Salt Lake City, UT 19%

Source: Scarborough Research