In 2024, the landscape of Thai breakfast is evolving, seamlessly integrating traditional flavours with modern dietary preferences. As the demand for convenient and nutritious morning meals grows among Thais, there’s a crucial need for products to adapt and meet this demand.
Health and wellness are increasingly prioritised, with a preference emerging for items that are not only easy to consume on the go but also offer health benefits. Products that incorporate local Thai ingredients and flavours, like grab-and-go sticky rice with mango or protein-rich soy milk enhanced with Thai herbs, are becoming more popular.
This report aims to capture consumer insights, post-COVID-19, by understanding changing consumer preferences, and how products can effectively cater to consumers, offering breakfast options in 2024 that are nutritious, convenient and deeply rooted in Thai culinary traditions.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Understand Thais’ breakfast choices and habits
- Understand meal volume preference – heavy, light, liquid
- Identify frequent purchase channels
- Understand Thai consumers’ attitudes towards breakfast foods
Focus on nutritious, hyper-convenient and satiating breakfast products to enhance family dining experiences.
Pimwadee Aguilar, Associate Director Food & Drink – Thai Consumer
Market Definitions
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
Food and drink for breakfast, both in and out of home.
In home: includes everything consumers eat for breakfast at home without the need to either go out of home or order food delivery. In-home breakfast occasions cover cooking from scratch, eating prepared meals and packaged foods and beverages.
Out of home: includes everything consumers buy out of home or from delivery. Out-of-home breakfast occasions cover buying from retailers (eg convenience stores, supermarkets etc), foodservice operators (eg fast food, coffee houses, bakery stores etc), independent food stores, kiosks and food stalls.
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executive summary
- Mintel's perspective
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Overview
- The outlook of breakfast in Thailand
- Vibrant breakfast market in Thailand
- Offer hyper-convenient, healthier breakfast solutions
- Emphasise meal satiation to demonstrate good value
- Graph 1: what consumers typically eat at breakfast in the last three months, 2023
- Enhance enjoyment of the breakfast experience
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key trends and market factors
- What you need to know
- Breakfast, popularised
- "Sorry, not sorry!" – heavy mental load drives desire for unguilty pleasures
- The rise of breakfast restaurants is creating a buzz in the morning consumption occasion
- Steady growth of breakfast cereal and snack bar products
- Graph 2: market value of breakfast cereals in USD, 2018-27
- Graph 3: market value of snack bars in USD, 2014-24
- Healthy: from trend to staple
- Eating healthy has become a stable trend
- Graph 4: eat healthily*, 2022-24
- Consumers are rationalising the added nutrition in food and drinks
- Thai consumers prioritise fruits and vegetables when food shopping
- Graph 5: top factors when shopping for food*, 2024
- Spending shifts from economical to value-driven
- There is a growing optimism among Thais regarding personal finances
- Graph 6: future financial sentiment*, 2022-24
- Graph 7: current financial situation*, 2022-24
- Spending factors shift from economy-driven to value-driven
- Graph 8: agreement with the statement "I think that it's worth paying more for products of a higher quality", by financial situation*, 2024
- Food expenditure shifting from restaurants to home eating
- Graph 9: spending habits on food (past 12 months)*, 2024
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what consumers want and why
- What you need to know
- Breakfast plays a vital role in Thai consumers' diets
- Graph 10: breakfast consumption frequency, by age group, 2023
- Offer hyper-convenient, healthier breakfast solutions
- Nutrition value takes the spotlight at breakfast
- Graph 11: consumers who are willing to pay more money for healthier breakfast, by financial situation, 2023
- Promote better-for-you options through new formats and ingredients
- Freshness defines a healthy breakfast
- Graph 12: freshly cooked breakfast is much healthier than packaged products, by age group, 2023
- Dial up perceived freshness of packaged breakfast products
- Thai consumers value convenience alongside nutrition in breakfast choices
- Graph 13: agreement with the statement "At breakfast occasion, convenience is more important to me than nutrition", by age group, 2023
- Graph 14: agreement with the statement "I am willing to spend money on products/services which will make my breakfast time at home more comfortable", by age group, 2023
- Introduce products that cater to both nutrition and convenience needs
- Blooming era of hermits
- Graph 15: agreement with the statements, 2023
- Convenient breakfast at home
- Opportunity for 'brunches' for Gen Zs who seek for heavier versions of breakfast
- Thai consumers embrace breakfast preparation at home, but CVS are also emerging as a go-to channel
- Graph 16: places for getting your breakfast from during the last three months, 2022-23
- Appeal to time-pressed travellers with on-the-gos
- Breakfast at CVS to target commuters
- Potential for CVS corporate catering
- Trending on TikTok: Convenience-store meal mix and match
- Opportunity for breakfast from online ordering, especially among Gen Z consumers
- Graph 17: agreement to the statements, by age group, 2023
- Online deliveries targeting breakfast occasions (fresh and filling menus)
- Emphasise quality of meal satiation quality
- High satiety food search
- Satiety is a key consideration for Thai consumers at breakfast
- Graph 18: agreement with the statements, by age group, 2023
- At least 50% of breakfast consumers have a heavy-weight breakfast
- Graph 19: what consumers typically eat at breakfast in the last three months, 2023
- Convenient satiating rice dishes: fan tuan, kimbap, and khow thang
- High protein and fibre content is the key to satiable breakfast
- Graph 20: selection on the statements, by age group, 2023
- Three emerging ingredients for satiety
- High-protein, high-fibre Asian meals
- Target morning consumption occasions with high-protein milk products
- Differentiate to target morning consumption occasions with high-protein coffee/tea products
- Satiating Western menus still have a chance at breakfast for Thais
- Adapting Western breakfast into local tastes
- Enhance enjoyment of the breakfast experience
- Breakfast is about enjoyment, especially with company
- Graph 21: agreement with the statement "I enjoy spending time having breakfast", by living situation and parental status, 2023
- Upping the indulgence factor
- Learn from the breakfast cereal category on enhancing sensory experiences to create more indulgent breakfast options
- Boost breakfast sales by tapping into Millennials' love for social mornings
- Graph 22: who consumers have breakfast with, by age, 2023
- Target sociable Millennials with shareable breakfast items and moments of inspiration
- Breakfast should be warm and freshly cooked
- Graph 23: agreement with the statement "I prefer to eat warm than cold foods at breakfast", by living situation, 2023
- Graph 24: agreement with the statement 'my breakfast is usually freshly cooked foods either at home or from restaurants/street vendors', by living situation, 2023
- Freshly cooked breakfast feels 'healthier'
- Graph 25: agreement with the statement "freshly cooked breakfast is much healthier than packaged products", by gender and age group, 2023
- Hot breakfast without the mess
- Home is where consumers enjoy their breakfast in comfort
- Graph 26: I usually have breakfast at home, by gender and living situation, 2023
- Graph 27: Cook at home, by gender and living situation, 2023
- Introduce products that enhance the in-home breakfast experience
- Partnership with foodservice brands to give at-home breakfasts a breath of fresh air and a touch of the out-of-home experience
- Outside of home, make breakfast a social start to the day
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appendix
- Report definition
- Consumer research methodology
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