The stomach wants what the stomach wants – when the stomach wants it.

There was once a time in this world where, after dinner, people would wind down their day and actually do the unthinkable – go to bed and sleep until morning. Then, one day, a restaurant had an idea that it would not just add a meal to the day, but also start a trend that would change our eating habits forever.

Taco Bell decided that Americans needed a fourth meal. They bought it and now we’ve got a mix of late night dominators trying to up their breakfast game and leaders in the QSR sector offering all day breakfast.

Sow hat gives? Why are we being offered whatever we want, whenever we want it? Well, a lot of it has to do with the millennial lifestyle.

Millennials are keeping restaurants on their toes by demanding their offerings coincide with their eating habits. In fact, if you look at some polls taken recently, you’ll know that over 55% of people over 35 eat breakfast at a time other than morning while about the same number of people said they’d frequent their favorite restaurant more if it stayed open later.

Eating all-day is popular. But it’s not a new concept.

But this generation isn’t spearheading this new concept of eating (almost) around-the-clock. Jack in the Box has been serving breakfast in the USA since 1969 and took the lead again in 1991 when they starting offering that breakfast menu all-day long.

Non-traditional dayparts are a big part of the Jack in the Box brand and has drawn a lot of attention – and a lot of competition – from other brands hoping to capitalize on this trend of eating during off-peak times.

So what’s next for dayparts? Well, it’s starting to look like either anything goes when it comes to eating, or perhaps QSR brands will have top pay close attention to their customer base when deciding what to offer – and when. For example, Taco Bell has a location in Las Vegas. That location’s busiest time is between 3am and 4am. Not your typical snack time, but in that location, people want to eat. It’s best you give them what they want.

In other areas it may be beneficial to dig deep into the data. What’s popular and when…and look at other brands as well. In the meantime, brands are going to be left trying to figure out other important elements of their business related to this new trend. Questions about hours of operation, additional staff, supply chain strategies and more. It’s all part of doing business when people start thinking they want bacon and eggs at 10pm.

Eating breakfast late at night because you want to? Got a favorite meal you think should be available to you 24x7x365? Let us know in the comments!