For many consumers, New Albany, Ohio-based Bob Evans Farms is a comfort brand associated with family.

In the fall of 2023, the company celebrated 75 years of its breakfast sausage business and ran a marketing campaign focused on nostalgia.

“Bob Evans sausage is a family recipe born from time-honored principles and carries the legacy of our brand,” said Ciare James, Bob Evans Farms’ vice president of brand marketing. “Just like our 75-year-old sausage recipe, we believe family recipes and culinary traditions are meant to be passed down and cherished.”

In a study commissioned by Bob Evans, the company found, “there is a strong sense of connection to the past that recipes tend to bring — feelings of joy, love, nostalgia and satisfaction are wrapped in the smells and tastes that trigger familial memories.”

For busy consumers, heat-and-eat meals from family-favorite restaurants can provide feelings of nostalgia without the cook time and cleanup a family recipe requires.

Denise Purcell, vice president of resource development for the New York-based Specialty Food Association, said breakfast is trending, and there is an emphasis on convenience for breakfast foods in 2024.

“Since the pandemic, we’ve seen breakfast being the growing meal for specialty food purchasers,” Purcell said. “Many of the new products that will be featured this year focus on added protein, better-for-you ingredients, lower sugar, new grains, added convenience and, of course, specialty. … And consumers are telling us they want more short cuts.”

Bob Evans’ Bacon and Ham, Fresh Sausage and Liquid Egg Substitutes and Egg Whites were designed to be just that — a short cut for a “weekend-style breakfast.”

“We heard our consumers loud and clear, and we are giving them products that deliver on their needs,” said Thyme Hill, chief marketing officer of Bob Evans Farms. “Our consumers want the comfort of a weekend breakfast in a convenient, fast, and delicious weekday form.”

This article is an excerpt from the March 2024 issue of Supermarket Perimeter. You can read the entire Branded Entrees feature and more in the digital edition here.