ROCKVILLE, Md. – All-day breakfast is driving the all-day menu, according to Breakfast and Breakfast Foods All Day: Culinary Trend Tracking Series from market research firm Packaged Facts.

Consumers’ “free-form” dining habits have spurred foodservice operators to create menus that are adaptable across dayparts. Think twists on classics such as biscuits, donuts, waffles and pancakes along with global specialties revamped as breakfast items.

“This is an age of all-day breakfast selections that can shape-shift their way through the day, multi-purposing for breakfast, lunch, post-work drinks and takeout, dinner, and midnight snacks,” said David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts. “Breakfast food menus and retail products can appeal to all budgets, all levels of appetite, and all food preferences and dietary requirements.”

Specialty functional juices, signature breakfast sausage sandwiches, and fruit and grain food bowls are on offer alongside Asian bao, breakfast versions of banh mi, and congee; Mexican chilaquiles and migas; Italian-style frittatas; and Middle Eastern shakshuka.

Packaged Facts said in its report that the percent of US adults who agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day has slipped to 52 percent in 2017 from 57 percent in 2007. Packaged Facts attributed the shift to the erosion of three squares a day and no clear distinction between light meals and heavy snacks.

“Even so, breakfast still beats the pancakes out of lunch (18 percent) or dinner (19 percent) by this measure,” Packaged Facts noted.