We are at the year mark since the pandemic changed our lives. A lot has happened, and the eating trends of consumers are no exception to that change. This means that hospitality brands have an opportunity to take a good look at the services that they offer and then to align them with what consumers are really wanting, as their needs and desires evolve.

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So that we have the clearest picture possible of what the consumer really wants, what they are eating and how food delivery could a look in the future, Deliveroo carried out a survey and the results are certainly food for thought:

Eating Trends
65% noted that they have spent an increased amount on takeaways since it provides them with something good to anticipate.
50% had bought restaurant ‘meal kits’ for a special treaty, the most common time for this was a Friday night.
43% of mums and dads said their free time was more reduced, hence delivery services are vital, this related to the lack of child care and need for homeschooling.
During the lockdown, the highest number of orders came for fried chicken, burgers, pizzas Chinese and Indian, however, other cuisine such as Korean and Mexican also had demand, not solely in urban areas but in suburban places too, such areas did not always have a delivery option.
There is a trend towards food delivery. Looking at the third quarter of 2020, the UK saw a staggering £46.4m for delivery orders, this was a rise of 43% from this same quarter the previous year. Many brands seem to be jumping on this bandwagon, in fact, Deliveroo saw 20,000 additional restaurants partner up with them as the year 2020 unfolded.

The massive increase in takeouts, however, does not mean that people are not missing the dining-out experience, a McKinney survey in November 2019 listed restaurant and bar dining as one of the top three things that people look forward to returning to.

Attitudes Towards Health
During the past year health has been at the forefront of peoples’ minds, a Global Weeb Index study noted that 48% of people in one survey have started to eat a more healthy diet so that their mental and general wellbeing would be protected during the pandemic. Mintel findings also stated that 30% of adults view eating healthy as more important since the outbreak of the pandemic and are especially interested in things that boost the immune system. Perhaps it would be a wise move for restaurants to highlight the healthy choices on their menus so that consumers can clearly note them.

Mindfulness
health is not the only thing that people are thinking about these days. The GWI 2021 report Connecting The Dots, showed that 51% of people want more eco-friendly brands, in fact, 59% are making plans to contribute to less food waste, and 46% want to make purchases from brands that are sustainable.

Consumers have the desire to show their support to businesses at this tough time in our history, 80% of Deliveroo customers mentioned that lending this support to local businesses was something important to them. However, they wanted a level of care from the brands themselves. More than 50% of those that took the GWI survey wanted to see brand supporting people during the pandemic and 41% want brands to give support to social causes. Giving clear evidence that you really care about the environment is a crucial step for all those in the hospitality industry to be taking right now.