DoorDash ordering data (1 Jan 2019 to 31 Oct 2020) combined with a DKC Analytics national consumer survey of 1,000 Americans (6 Nov – 7 Nov 2020), has produced some interesting facts about what we are ordering from restaurants for home delivery. Using that as the base, I looked at several other data collectors to flesh out what we are now seeing as the trend for 2021-22 in home restaurant deliveries.
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Introduction to Delivery
History
The concept of food delivery service, according to Wikipedia, has been dated back to as old as Ancient Rome in the early 753 B.C. – 476 A.D or earlier. And certainly we all know that there is a long history of pizza being delivered, in fact, Food&Wine writes that the very first pizza to be delivered happened in 1889, when Italian Queen Margherita ordered a delivery from Pizzeria Brandi; a restaurant which is still operating in Naples.
Thrillist writes: In 1922, Kin-Chu cafe opens in Los Angeles. The eatery runs an ad alleging that it’s “the only place on the West Coast making and delivering real Chinese dishes.” Kin-Chu is the first United States restaurant to offer this service and people love it. Unfortunately, it’s ahead of its time. In 1929 the stock market crashes and in 1930, the Great Depression hits.
Even ordering online as an electronic service has been available for a while. Wikipedia writes: In the United States, the first restaurant food delivery service in the world began in 1995 with World Wide Waiter and still operates today as Waiter.com. The top three restaurant food delivery services are DoorDash, GrubHub, and UberEats, which together account for some 80 percent of the sector’s revenue.
In 2004 GrubHub is created, and in 2011 merges with a competitor. In 2013, DoorDash enters the scene. And then in 2014, Uber Eats launches.
- 2019 had $11B USD sales in home meal delivery (1).
- July 2020 had 65% of San Franciscans order food via DoorDash (2).
- February to April 2020: Uber Eats delivered 34% of the meals to consumers, Door Dash 33%, Grubhub is third with 21%.
The National Restaurant News (NRN) reported in 2016 that 60% of Americans ordered restaurant delivery or takeout once a week. On average, Mintel adds, that those who used food delivery services, used them twice a week. And those that ordered online, 34% spent at least $50 per order.
Home Vs Delivery
I do not want to cook, but need to eat something. So I go to my phone, click on an app I have used before, and order a meal from a favorite coffee shop, fast food joint, deli, or restaurant. I add in the fees, tips for drivers or baristas, and click [SUBMIT]. Now what is normally a $12 walk-in purchase is $20 and in 30-45 minutes will be delivered to my porch. All I have to do is go out to the porch and pick it up when it gets here. No leaving the house, no cash, no mask, no social contact, just a few swipes on a device, a few steps, and I am served. This was an important part of life during the peak of my pandemic experience.
And this is the height of convenience. So while statistics being thrown about indicate Americans are spending more time home cooking (70% of DKC survey respondents), many (25%) report ordering more than they need for the meal at hand, as they want leftovers. I have to admit I do this too, especially for foods I do not yet know how to make well (like Indian and Ethiopian meals).
So we order out for convenience, but also for variation as many cooks fall into preparing the same things over and over again. I have always said that the best cook prepares the food they learned as children from their families and communities, they expand their cooking experience into the flavors they like, and occasionally explore new cuisines just for the experience. So for me I have my native European German foods I cook, the Asian Japanese foods I turn to for a dish or two each week, and the occasional, unusual thing I will try because it sounds good. This keeps my cooking fresh.
We also order out because we like certain foods but do not know how to prepare them. For me this is some South American, Indian, and Ethiopian foods I really enjoy but have not yet learned how to make.
But bottom line, what we are all craving right now, to no one’s surprise, are comfort foods rather than healthier food (53% to 18% of the respondents). At the same time, we are also all buying kitchen items, like new cookware, and especially new baking sheets.
Home for Breakfast
With more Americans at home, for work and daily living, this change in our meal ordering has been a long time coming; 11 months almost. Pre-pandemic we would rush out the door to get to work, some % of us ate breakfast at home, while another % would grab a sack of fast-food breakfast to get us through to lunch. The only time we ordered food delivery, was generally for the evening meal when we were too tired to cook.
But now, there are increases in breakfast being served by restaurants and delivered direct to your door. DoorDash reports that the most common breakfast items being ordered are: iced coffee, sausage + egg + cheese breakfast burritos, pancakes, and oatmeal.
I am amazed at this, for breakfast is one of the easiest, and quickest meals to make, or even pre-make.
Diverse Orders + Diverse Choices
If you are like our family, when my spouse yells out “what is for dinner”, I will often ask “what country”? Now I can make the food or I can order out and it mainly depends on where we are in the month (i.e., how much money is left in the checking account), or how exhausted I am from doing nothing.
DoorDash reports that the top ten 2020 cuisines included Mexican, Chinese, and Tex-Mex. They write that 40% of their customers reported missing Mexican food, however, Seafood was listed next (at 34%).
But the up and coming cuisines were: Taiwanese (807% increase), French (501% increase), Filipino (313% increase), and Australian (308% increase).
Where’s the Plant?
DoorDash shares that 72% of Americans plan to eat healthier in 2021. Of those, 47% report interest in incorporating more plant-based foods into their meals.
Of course, as I have indicated before, there are age differences in the approach to plant-based diets, and 18–24 year olds ranked plant-based meals as most appetizing. For example, when comparing 2020 orders to 2019, DoorDash saw that black bean tacos had a 456% increase in orders, plant-based burgers had a 225% increase, and mushroom burgers a 195% increase.
Ahh but Chicken
DoorDash also indicate that while 31% of the survey respondents were tired of cooking chicken, you could not tell that by the numbers of orders for chicken delivery.
Ghost Kitchens
Ghost Kitchens are kitchens created just to serve one specific type of food for delivery only. It is not a retail outlet, and mainly is used by delivery services to make sure they can provide the foods people want. So one place may cater to burger lovers, while another may just make tacos.
I have read that many of the delivery companies sponsor or own these services.
States of Meal Delivery
DoorDash reports a variety of regional differences in the type of foods we order on line. Here is how they see the meal delivery world.
- Seattle: the top ordered food was seafood with items including sushi rolls, fish and chips, and tartar sauce topping things off.
- San Francisco: saw an increase in Indian food with orders of tikka masala, samosas, and garlic naan.
- Los Angeles saw spikes in sushi ordering of California, spicy tuna, and rainbow rolls.
- Austin: preferred Tex-Mex foods.
- Chicago: preferred sandwiches.
- Atlanta chocolate chip cookies, cookies & cream milkshakes, and banana bread leading the chart.
- Miami; sweet plantains, fried yuca, and jerk chicken.
- D.C and N.Y.C: chicken noodle soup, roasted chicken, and curry chicken.
For us I think we mainly order the following foods, in order: Indian, Thai, Ethiopian, and Chinese.
— Patty
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