Avocados smashing pints as new national tradition with Australians increasingly turning to their local cafe over the pub

Smashed avocado and a flat white is threatening to replace a pint at the pub as the great Australian tradition. Australians are increasingly spending more going out for breakfast and brunch than on drinks at their local. And it is helping to make baristas, waiters and chefs among the fastest-growing jobs in the country. Jess Chisari-Sneeuwjagt, who ran Subiaco café Stimulatte with her husband Joel and opened popular breakfast spot Someday Coffee in Floreat three years ago, said even in her time in the industry she had seen a shift in more people eating out for breakfast and brunch. “The breakfast scene has most definitely developed over the years we’ve been involved,” she said. “There’s a definite focus on catching up with friends during the earlier part of the day compared to when we were in our twenties. The knowledge in coffee is particularly apparent.” Determining exactly how much Australians spend on breakfast and brunch can be complicated because cafes and restaurants do not typically differentiate where their revenue comes from. However, what figures are available appear to tell a similar story. Consumer spending research by money website Mozo suggests the morning meal has officially triumphed over the pub, with the country collectively spending about $7 billion a year on weekend brunch compared to just under $6 billion at the pub or bar. According to hospitality publisher Intermedia, 15 per cent of the $45 billion Australians spent eating and drinking out in 2017 was spent at cafes. Those figures did not include a breakdown of breakfast versus lunch spending. That was well ahead of pubs and bars, which accounted for 5.6 per cent of spending. Similarly West Australians spent $693 million in cafes in 2016, compared to $305 million in pubs and bars and $1.2 billion in restaurants. A Bankwest report on the future of hospitality showed that in the five years to 2018 the hospitality sector grew up by 1.7 per cent a year but cafes grew at a fast than average 2 per cent. A Stasta report from 2019 forecast the revenue of cafes and coffee shops in Australia to hit $5 billion this year, up from $4.3b in 2014-15. According to jobs site Indeed the number of jobs for baristas in Australia has nearly doubled, up 45 per cent between 2015 and 2019. And Australian Government jobs report in 2019 put chef, kitchenhand and waiter on its list of the jobs predicted to have the fastest growth in the years to 2023. Australians may not have invented going out for breakfast but we have certainly embraced it. Just two years ago the New York Times credited a swath of new Australian-run cafes with all but revolutionising that city’s breakfast and brunch scene. “As in the United States, the Australian food revolution meant upending a formal, Eurocentric fine-dining scene, embracing fresh and locally grown food, and incorporating immigrant food traditions… And all of it led to New York City’s sidewalks, where people now wait on weekends to squeeze in for $14 fried-egg sandwiches (with arugula, bacon, tomatoes and chile relish) and $16 folded eggs with peas, avocado, spinach and salsa verde,” wrote journalist Julia Moskin.