Despite the huge range of food and drink products available for consumers to start the day, a new survey has shown that, in the UK at least, the faithful cuppa is still the wake-me-up beverage of choice for breakfast.
The survey, commissioned by electrical goods manufacturer Morphy Richards, reveals that Britons are more than twice as likely to start the day with tea than coffee. Some 56 per cent of adults drink tea before anything else, compared to 26 per cent for coffee, despite the growth in coffee house culture, and the much wider range of coffees now available.
The comprehensive study into the nation's breakfast habits also found that 84 per cent of adults eat something for breakfast every day of the week - good news for nutritionists who argue that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. On weekdays, the most popular choices are cereals & milk (60 per cent), toast (37 per cent) and yoghurt (7 per cent).
Only a small proportion of people have their breakfast on the move or at the workplace, despite the growing number of snack products designed to cater to just that part of the population. Some 95 per cent of adults have breakfast at home, usually at the same time as taking in the morning's news from the newspaper, radio, or television, the survey showed.
In fact, very few people said that they missed breakfast completely, with just one person in fifty totally skipping the first meal of the day. However, 8 per cent admitted their breakfast consisted of just a hot drink or fruit juice.Regionally, Londoners are the most likely to have the traditional full cooked breakfast, with 32 per cent enjoying a fry-up at least once a week. Nationally, 25 per cent of adults have a cooked breakfast at least once a week, usually at the weekend.
Commenting on the findings, Chris Thompson, marketing director of Morphy Richards, which claims to be the market leader in kettles, toasters, breadmakers and coffee makers, and as such has a vested interest in starting Britain off with a hearty breakfast every day, said: "Daily schedules may get increasingly stressful but breakfast clearly holds an important place in people's lives.
"This survey shows that having time to eat, drink and take in the news before starting the day receives a very high priority. The British breakfast is alive and well - missing our first meal just isn't an option for most of us."