Microwaveable breakfast foods forecast to decline in Canada

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Consumption of salty, savory snacks and items like yogurt and snack bars are expected to increase among Canadians over the next 10 years, while heat-and-eat breakfast items like microwave oatmeal is forecast to decline, says a market research report.

The study, "A Look into the Future of Eating - Canadian Marketplace," released this week by the NPD Group, also found generational differences of consumption among Canadians, with younger consumers expected to skip meals and older generations expected to eat more heat-and-eat convenience foods.

Over the next 10 years, members of Canada's youngest generation, termed Post Millenials - those born 1993 to present - will eschew the conventional three-meal-a-day routine and skip meals across the day, the report said.

Generation X, born between 1967 and 1975, is expected to increase consumption of simple breakfast foods, meat entrées or "center-of-plate proteins," and easy convenience meals.

And Canada's baby boomers - born 1947 to 1955 - are expected to consume more convenience, heat-and-eat foods as they age.

The Canadian forecast differs sharply with the American version, which found the opposite trend, where heat-and-eat or microwaveable breakfast foods are forecast to grow by 13 percent in the next decade.