Talk about a wake-up call: More quick-service restaurants are focusing their attentions on the first meal of the day, offering a wide variety of breakfast menu options to help consumers get going in the a.m.

Breakfast sandwiches such as Dunkin’ Donuts’ flatbreads and McDonald’s wraps have already proved to deliver the convenience and ease that on-the-go consumers are looking for. Now there’s another category, breakfast breads—especially those with healthful ingredients such as fruits, nuts, spices, and seeds—that promises to be the next best thing since, well, sliced bread.

Sales of bread rose to $18.5 billion in 2007, a 10 percent increase, according to Mintel, a market-research firm based in Chicago. The firm projects the market will keep pace with this upward trend, totaling $20.6 billion by 2012, driven in large part by product innovation. National bread sales accounted for 18 percent of bakery department dollars in 2007, up from 17.8 percent the previous year, according to the Perishables Group, a research company that compiles data from more than 16,000 stores nationwide. Across the U.S., hot/hearth breads accounted for 38.3 percent of bread dollar sales, followed by artisan/specialty/crusty breads at 34.2 percent.

The Perishables Group defines hot/hearth breads as breads that are served warm and are often hot-meal accompaniments, such as Italian bread, French bread, and garlic bread. Breakfast/sandwich breads reached 20.2 percent of bakery sales and had the third highest dollar share.

Mintel reports that breakfast breads—rolls, buns, croissants, bagels, and English muffins in particular—are among the fastest-growing segments. That’s no surprise: With the American consumer’s desire to get more done in less time, breakfast breads can be consumed on the go and also take less time to prepare than other traditional morning favorites such as pancakes and French toast. As a result, a number of food suppliers and foodservice businesses QSR spoke with are rising to the occasion and developing fresh-baked ideas that cater to these precise needs.

Great Grains

The low-carb health craze that once threatened to put bread on the back burner indefinitely seems to have abated. Consumers are no longer afraid of the carbohydrates that go along with eating breads. Instead, the focus has shifted to the ingredients of the bread itself. According to recent studies by Nielsen Label Trends, fresh whole-grain breads, preservative-free breads, natural breads, those bearing a “good source of calcium” claim, and low/no sugar varieties have all experienced double-digit growth over the last four years.

“With the trend toward healthy eating, consumers are looking for good quality products,” says Tom Newitt, brand and marketing manager for Nature’s Path, a Canadian-based company known for its organic products. “Breads are a great way to eat more healthfully.”

Nature’s Path recently introduced a line of fresh organic sliced breads made with the same organic whole grains featured in the brand’s popular breakfast cereals. The three varieties: Heritage, with heirloom whole grains; Optimum, with cinnamon-blueberry flaxseed; and Flax Plus, with pumpkin seeds are certified organic and provide a healthful source of fiber and omega-3s. “It’s not good enough to be a simple organic bread these days,” Newitt says. “You also have to consider the taste and the health benefits.”

And the health benefits can be substantial. A recent study by the Unit for Applied Nutrition and Food Chemistry at Lund University in Sweden found that eating the right breakfast bread (e.g. whole grain barley and rye) can keep blood sugar at healthy levels. This is important because an imbalance in blood sugar levels has been linked to a host of conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases. And the fiber in whole grains not only lowers blood cholesterol but also makes diners feel full without adding a lot of calories, a boon to anyone who’s watching his weight.

There are a number of quick-service restaurants across the country that feature whole-grain breads for breakfast. UFoodGrill, which has 10 locations in 4 states, offers whole-wheat bagels with its breakfast sandwiches. Great Harvest Bread Co., with 215 locations nationwide, sells handcrafted whole grain breads made daily, as well as take-home mixes. Cosi, located in 18 states, has an Etruscan whole grain bagel and bread on its menu. And Atlanta Bread, which has 135 locations in 25 states, features a whole grain bread with 16.8 grams of whole grains per slice.