PRESS RELEASE: 20 January 2025
As featured in:
A new study by BWH Hotels GB reveals Brits are spicing up their breakfast game with condiments like horseradish, mayo and gravy on fry-ups.
No longer just the cornerstone of a great roast dinner, for one in ten (11%) of us, gravy is an essential element of a cooked breakfast, research by Best Western Hotels has discovered.
While ketchup remains the top fry-up condiment - favoured by one in four of us (25%), sweet chilli and horseradish take second place with 14%. They are followed by mayonnaise (12%) gravy (11%) and hot honey (8%) with brown sauce favoured by just seven per cent of the nation.
The study by Best Western highlights how the nation’s breakfast habits are evolving and comes as it crowns 2025 the year of the free breakfast - by offering a FREE breakfast with every Rewards customer booking under the ‘Free Breakfast’ rate. And it seems 2025 could herald the end of one of the most iconic elements of a fry-up - the fried egg - with more than one in five (22%) saying they would never add one to their breakfast. What’s more, a similar proportion (21%) would opt for scrambled TOFU over eggs.
Where we choose to eat breakfast is also changing - with millions of Brits confessing to having breakfast on THE LOO (6%). Almost one in ten of us (9%) eat breakfast in bed while seventeen percent do it on the way to work. One in ten (10%) eat breakfast at their desk while seven per cent chow down on their sofa.
Yet, despite much talk about the rise of avocado on toast - the popularity of a fry-up remains undimmed - with a quarter of the nation (25%) enjoying a fry-up every day of the week and two in five of us (41%) enjoying one at least once a week.
Tim Rumney, CEO at BWH Hotels GB said: “Breakfast is undoubtedly the most important meal of the day, and we believe everyone deserves a breakfast experience as unique as they are - even if we can't guarantee a gravy boat at breakfast. Now with Best Western Hotels’ Free Breakfast offer, that’s exactly what you get.”
For more information on Best Western Hotels and the Free Breakfast promotion, please visit: Year of the Free Breakfast | Best Western Hotels
Gravy Image - James Moss, chef at Best Western Bank Hotel Worcester
Brits’ top fry-up condiments:
|
Option |
Percentage |
|
Ketchup |
25% |
|
Horseradish |
14% |
|
Sweet Chilli Sauce |
14% |
|
Mayonnaise |
12% |
|
Gravy |
11% |
|
Nothing at all - keep it plain |
9% |
|
Hot Honey |
8% |
|
Brown Sauce |
7% |
Best Western’s Ultimate Breakfast Gravy Recipe to try at home
Ingredients:
2 medium onions, finely sliced
2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, finely diced
30g unsalted butter
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp plain flour
500ml beef stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp black coffee (instant or freshly brewed)
Optional: 1 tsp Marmite
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Fry the diced bacon in a dry pan until crispy. Remove but leave the fat in the pan.
Add butter and oil to the bacon fat. Add sliced onions and cook slowly for 15-20 minutes until deeply caramelised and golden brown.
Return the crispy bacon bits to the pan. Sprinkle over the flour and stir continuously for 2-3 minutes.
Gradually whisk in the hot beef stock.
Add Worcestershire sauce, coffee and a spoonful of Marmite (if using). The coffee adds a subtle depth that makes your fry-up even more delicious.
Simmer gently for 15-20 minutes until thickened to your desired consistency.
Season to taste (be careful with salt as the bacon is already quite salty).
Cook's Tips:
The coffee shouldn't make the gravy taste like coffee - it just adds a lovely rich undertone
Save your bacon fat from cooking other rashers and use it instead of vegetable oil
Try adding a tiny pinch of smoked paprika for extra depth
