The Food Delivery Industry Is Changing the Way We Think About Food

Imagine coming home and having to put together a meal after a long, tiring day especially after mentally exhausting meetings all day, versus getting fresh food delivered to your doorstep at the click of a button.

A lot of urban, 20-somethings are likely to pick the second option. The way we dine has changed dramatically over the past few years, particularly when it comes to ordering in.

Back in time, we planned our meals out every day, spent hours preparing and cooking them and then all sat around the table as a family to enjoy the results.

Today food needs to arrive on our plate quicker than ever, whether that be through cooking, or tapping just a few times on our smartphones.

Crisp and Quick, Above All – A Millennial Approach towards Food

The millennials, aged between 20 and 35 years, set the tone for trends today. They want it fast, and they want it fresh. This trend is reshaping the food industry as we have come to know it.

This generation of consumers is more apt to eat from a quickly available, variety of foods delivered from their favorite restaurants through food delivery services. And to keep the millennials excited and lured, delivery companies such as ActivEats are constantly designing new ordering channels to make things easier and smoother.

People are favoring convenience above all else. Eating efficiently is becoming the ultimate goal during the dinner hour and beyond. But this doesn’t mean that consumers aren’t concerned about healthy foods; in fact, modern convenience food buyers are looking for more quality and convenience, and are paying more to get them.

The modern-day ‘midnight munching’ trend has been adding quite a lot of fuel in the fire of the food delivery industry.

According to a survey, 70% of people order food late at night whether it’s game night, or simply
Netflix and relax. The food is ordered and it needs to be there quick and fresh. As many restaurants call it ‘From the oven to the front door.’

Expanding Our Taste buds - Broadening Our Experience

Food culture represents complex systems whose various codes have to be learned, like a language. The food delivery industry is growing rapidly and is making different culture’s food more accessible, which is opening up new flavors to hundreds of people.

It’s fair to say nobody does Indian food like somebody of Indian heritage, just as nobody does Fish and Chips like the British or noodles like those with South East Asian ancestry. And all of that can be delivered directly to your door in many cases.

Opening up to new flavors is not only fantastic for yourself, but it can also introduce children early to dishes that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to make. It’s expanding and integrating diverse cultures further and creating a world where in many cities no flavor is off the menu.

People today require convenience but they don’t want to compromise the experience. They want everything at their doorstep but they can no longer be satisfied with a pizza delivery from the nearest pizza shop.

Food Delivery Services- Creating Endless Opportunities

Food delivery services are being seen as an active startup with potential growth opportunities in today’s world because people’s love for food will never end.

Small scale entrepreneurs have identified this as an opportunity as the market is still untouched in many regions and the regular increase of online food delivery trends is being called one of the most promising business ideas in the e-commerce industry.

Considering the fact that setting up a food delivery business requires much less capital and investment compared to starting up a whole walk-in restaurant. On the contrary, though, food delivery services are particularly popular for offering part-time work to people from all walks of life.

You’ll see students earning in between studies, and even middle-aged men riding for deliveries as a way to earn money while they keep fit. It can be a great way to earn money on the side.

The blooming food delivery industry does not only benefit the solo- operators in the line but the established restaurant and café owners have the opportunity not only to offer a valuable new service to their customers but also to harness the benefits of modern e-commerce.

Social sharing and even marketing tools like food constructors can all be built into the delivery apps. This undoubtedly generates brand loyalty if the restaurant or café is able to reach the customer at all possible touch-points (i.e. delivering the restaurant experience to the customer sitting at home).

No More Dining Out?

Does this mean that the delivery model may eventually eat into the restaurant business? Doubtful.
The experience of being served at a restaurant and the experience of dining out cannot be replicated, nor can it be replaced. People still enjoy going out for very different reasons such as engaging with friends and peripherally with strangers to some extent that will never be replaced at home.

What the restaurants have going for them is the ambiance, good lighting, good music and all. They've got vibes. They've got service. They got a cocktail list. We're not getting that at home, are we?

In conclusion, it could be said and well agreed that the food delivery industry has taken businesses by storm with its growth. It is no surprise that as food is more readily available at the doorstep that demand goes up and the food delivery technologies advance.

We aren’t far away from being used to the idea of ‘delivery drones’ and ‘delivery droids’ utilizing the AI to meet and exceed the customer demands that change by the minute.

So yes! The food delivery industry is changing the way we think about food and rightly so. It is about time that we start looking for out of the box solutions to satisfy our food cravings.

This is a guest blog entry.