How The COVID-19 Pandemic is Changing Canadian Food Delivery Habits

With most Canadians waiting out the COVID-19 pandemic at home, food delivery apps have become a welcome replacement for restaurants that have been closed for months

by Phil Tsekouras
– CTV News

And with more and more orders being placed each day, one of Canada’s biggest food delivery apps has started to track how the novel coronavirus is changing consumer habits.

When are orders being placed?

Skip the Dishes says that 5 p.m. is the new “rush hour.”

“As Canadians increasingly have dinner at home, 5 p.m. is now the most popular time to order,” the company said in a news release.

“Skip the Dishes says that burgers and French fries are also among the most-ordered items on their platform”

 

As well, dinner pre-orders are up which Skip The Dishes says may be due to customers experiencing fewer interruptions to their plans to stay home.

However, the company says that late evening orders have also slowed.

“9 p.m. used to be among the busiest, but with more Canadians staying in and fewer gatherings, late evening orders have decreased.”

At the same time, Skip the Dishes says that weekdays are more popular than ever. In fact, the food delivery app says that they’ve also seen a “spike” in late afternoon orders between 3 and 4 p.m., which they attribute to more and more people working from home.

Despite that, the company says that lunch pre-orders have dropped by almost half as companies reduce the amount of food they order for their staff.

What are people eating?

While you might expect pizza to be the delivery order of choice while people are stuck at home, Canadians apparently love chicken sandwiches, according to the data. Skip the Dishes says that burgers and French fries are also among the most-ordered items on their platform.

Desserts are also in high demand. Skip The Dishes says that they have seen an increase in dessert orders overall as “customers find new ways to treat themselves while staying in.”

Speaking of desserts, Canadians are surprisingly ordering a lot of cakes. And while it might seem like there is little to celebrate in these trying times, the company says they’ve received 200,000 orders for cakes since March. They say customers are looking to celebrate “milestones at home” and New Brunswick and Quebec lead the way in overall orders.

Which age group is most actively ordering food?

Skip the Dishes says that since March, the fastest growing segment of new users are 65 years of age or older.