Breakfast takes a bite out of power lunches

Breakfast is closing in on the power lunch as the networking meal of choice, with smart cafes and city restaurants with breakfast on their menu increasingly the preferred meeting places for senior executives and entrepreneurs.

Restaurant and Catering Australia chief executive John Hart says breakfast is the single biggest growth area in his industry, having doubled over the past decade. "We have seen the corporate market fluctuate quite dramatically in recent years, and for the last three years the corporate spend on breakfast has been part of that growth."

Digital interaction and business etiquette expert Danielle Di-Masi says a growing preference for business breakfasts has been cemented in the past two-and-a-half years. Lunches are still the norm for celebrations, rewards and office farewells, but breakfasts are increasingly where business is done and relationships are built.

"It's definitely happening," says Gayle Austen, principal at Gayle Austen Corporate Communications. Ms Austen, whose clients include major Australian and international companies, says breakfast and coffee meetings are on the rise.

"People just don't have time for long lunches. Occasionally they will but a lot of the big multinationals, particularly from the US, have rules against drinking over lunch."

Although breakfast is typically cheaper than lunch, the corporate set is not motivated by cost per se: cultural change is driving the shift. In an environment of cost controls and redundancies, a pre-work breakfast meeting is regarded as more efficient and less indulgent than lunch.

Rebecca Huntley, executive director at research firm Ipsos Australia, says the decline of the 1980s-style long lunch is such that many office workers at all levels are reluctant to take even an hour's lunch break.

"People like to maximise the time they are at work."

One-hat restaurant Cumulus Inc, at the top end of Flinders Lane, is a popular power breakfast spot, busy by 7.30am. Its location, airy fitout and culinary reputation are not the only reasons.

"We designed the menu specifically for the corporate market," says co-owner Andrew McConnell: it is concise and comprises dishes that can be served quickly.

Nearby, at Collins Quarter, sales, events and marketing manager Emma Cooke says business breakfast numbers have risen. "Looking at the numbers for breakfast and lunch, there's been a significant change in the last six months."

She says the restaurant is making an effort to attract this market, and that business people booking breakfasts will often ask for the restaurant's booth seating for privacy.

Miss Di-Masi says business breakfasts use time efficiently.

"Both of you are fresh; you start the day feeling you've achieved something; and it can be seen as more responsible than lunch."

In addition, breakfast avoids the vexed issues around alcohol.

Restaurants and cafes are also being approached to host bigger meetings and presentations at breakfast-time. One-hat Gills Diner, at the rear of 360 Little Collins Street, offers set-breakfast meeting packages, says manager Ian Clarke. "We have a lot of bankers and business people."

At elegant Syracuse in Bank Place, regarded as a relatively quiet spot for early business breakfasts, venue manager Patrick Berry is considering buying conferencing equipment such as projectors to enhance the vaulted dining room's corporate appeal. North Melbourne cafe Maison Ama Lurra has three private rooms that can be booked for presentations over breakfast.

The rise in self-employed and project workers has also contributed to the trend to hold meetings in cafes.

"The home office isn't always an environment where people feel comfortable seeing clients," says Dr Huntley. "It's interesting because in some ways we are seeing a return to the origins of coffee shops . . . they were places for intense discussion, where people would hold court."

Business breakfast checklist

Reconnaissance – know what the restaurant is like on relevant weekdays/times of day.

Service – choosing a place with surly or slow staff will reflect poorly on you.

Acoustics – it's hard to build a relationship when you're shouting to be heard.

Tables – not too closely jammed; big enough for iPads or papers.

Menu – choose tidy foods and beware the dripping egg yolk.

Location – if you're hosting, make it convenient to your guest's office.

Source: Danielle Di-Masi

During Good Food Month, special set breakfast menus are available at top Melbourne cafes. Weekdays only. $20, including a day-starting tea or coffee. See melbourne.goodfoodmonth.com/breakfastclub