A look into what South Africans ordered most in 2023 on Uber Eats. Picture: Supplied.
One of the well-known food delivery platforms, Uber Eats, has released the Uber Eats 2023 Annual Cravings Report with interesting insights into how South African customers ordered in 2023.
A summary of the most well-liked, peculiar, and distinctive orders on the site is included in the report.
Some extremely fascinating information about South Africans’ eating and ordering habits in 2023 has been gleaned from the data.
It is reported that some customers repeat their order for no sauce or garnish 23 times in an attempt to make sure the restaurant understands what they want.
According to Daniele Joubert, head of Consumer Growth at Uber Eats Sub-Saharan Africa, the fourth annual cravings research not only gives useful insights into the meals (and drinks) that South Africans crave.
“It also demonstrates how big a role Uber Eats plays in the lives of ordinary South Africans. In 2024 and beyond, we aim to address even more of their wants and needs and to do so in new and innovative ways.”
One busy restaurant: At one restaurant, delivery people using the Uber Eats app made a trip from that restaurant every 11 minutes.
The friendly cities: While Gqeberha may be nicknamed The Friendly City, Johannesburg and Pretoria lead the way when it comes to friendliness on the Uber Eats app. Customers in the two Gauteng cities used “please” and “thank you” the most in orders, followed by Cape Town and the Garden Route.
Local is lekker: While customers using the Uber Eats app searched for the usual fast food suspects, including pizza, beer, burgers, and sushi, they also demonstrated their love of local foods. Among the most loved South African dishes on the app are pap, malva pudding, chakalaka, bunny chow, gatsbys, and boerewors.
Hey, big spender: The two largest orders from a single user on the Uber Eats app this year both involved alcohol and were executed on the same day. On October 13, a customer put in a nearly R14 000 alcohol order. Just 25 minutes later, they put in another order for nearly R19 000 from the same store. That amounts to a total of about R33 000, including tips.
Save while you spend: Perhaps that “big spender” could take one or two lessons from the user using Uber One who saved an average of about R1 100 per month and more than R6 000 since becoming an Uber One member. That means they saved more than 22 times the cost of an Uber One membership.
Creatures of habit: According to the report, one user ordered at least once a day for every day of 2023. When it comes to being a creature of habit, however, few can compete with the user who ordered from the same restaurant 348 times in 2023.
Date night (almost) every night: Sometimes couples fall into habits too. One user made 771 orders for two.
Jozi takes Cape Town’s vegan crown: While many South Africans think of Cape Town as the epicentre of vegan eating in South Africa, in 2023, Johannesburg overtook it with vegan orders. Users in The City of Gold made 23% more vegan orders than in the Mother City.
Going the extra mile(s): The delivery person who took the most trips in 2023 took more than 9 000 trips. For perspective, that’s equivalent to circling the earth more than 2.27 times or driving from Cape Town to Johannesburg and back nearly 33 times. The hours spent on the road, meanwhile, are equivalent to watching Die Hard more than 781 times.
Requests with personality: If you ever wanted an indication of how much personality South Africans have, you could do a lot worse than to look at their Uber Eats requests. One user, for example, ordered a 23-piece tempura platter from a sushi restaurant six times in a row due to pregnancy cravings.
The Star
anita.nkonki@inl.co.za
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