It would not be an overly dramatic statement to say that the food delivery market has seen profound change and growth over recent years, and that the coronavirus crisis has had a major part to play in this. However, it would perhaps be equally accurate to say that in many ways, the pandemic simply accelerated trends in food delivery that were already in play.
So, precisely how has the food delivery sector changed since the coronavirus outbreak first hit, and what implications does all of this have for the months and years to come?
A story of growth – but also of considerable changes in how we eat
The simplest answer to the question of how the food delivery market has altered over the last few years, would be that it has continued to record ever-more stellar growth from an already-high base.
According to Statista, the value of the foodservice delivery market in the UK was approximately £10.5 billion in 2021, with this figure predicted to rise to £13.3 billion in 2022, and to £14.6 billion in 2024.
There can be little doubt, however, that the onset of the pandemic did mark a step change in the ways in which many of us found ourselves buying food. As a BBC report noted, April 2020 – one of the first months of the COVID-19 crisis in Europe – saw worldwide Google searches for “food delivery” and “local food” reach all-time highs.
Alongside this, lockdown restrictions were imposed that entailed hospitality businesses having to close their public-facing brick-and-mortar sites, at least temporarily. Unsurprisingly, then, such firms – including restaurants and takeaways – hurriedly invested in their websites, apps, and online ordering systems, to put themselves in the strongest possible position to continue accepting orders from customers.
In what other ways did food delivery evolve over the last few years?
The longer restaurants and takeaways remained shuttered – at least as far as their ‘traditional’ high-street presences were concerned – the more customers became accustomed to buying food online, and requesting the delivery of food to their own doors.
With individual restaurants and eateries often lacking their own infrastructure for accepting online orders during the early stages of the pandemic, third-party online food delivery services – such as Deliveroo – saw considerable demand.
Sure enough, Deliveroo itself took advantage of the swift change in circumstances by establishing partnerships with such leading retailers as Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Morrisons, and Co-op to deliver groceries to homes. Meanwhile, Uber Eats entered into its own partnership with Sainsbury’s in October.
Even post-lockdown, food delivery retains its relevance
While – at the time of typing in August 2022 – lockdown restrictions in relation to COVID-19 have long been released in the UK, it seems likely that the food delivery market will keep on going from strength to strength.
After all, customers have now become familiar with the sheer speed and convenience of ordering food online for delivery, using nothing more than an app or website link. Indeed, many restaurants and takeaways have invested lately in the creation of their own branded apps as a means of bypassing third-party food delivery apps.
Back in 2020, research suggested it was those in the 18-to-34 age bracket in the UK who were especially quick to increase their use of food delivery services in response to the COVID-19 crisis. This shouldn’t be a greatly surprising finding, given the famed digital proficiency of this generation of food shoppers, and it ought to underline the importance of food businesses making sure they have well-developed online presences for the years ahead.
Along the way, we are seeing more and more businesses spring up that in many cases, were built ‘from the ground up’ as firms principally accepting orders online, instead of necessarily having a public-facing brick-and-mortar outlet.
Such young firms are also showing a high level of imagination and innovation, providing services that might have never previously been associated with food delivery.
One such business is Indulge, which specialises in offering fine-dining meal kits, BBQ meal kits, and even afternoon tea meal kits – the latter very much replicating the experience that customers might have had enjoying afternoon tea at many brick-and-mortar establishments down the years. Yes, with Indulge, you really can have an afternoon tea meal kit delivered to your door this summer! These afternoon-tea kits are customarily delivered on Fridays, and can be eaten up to three days after delivery.
As the above developments show, a lot has changed about the food delivery market in the space of just a few years. However, at least one thing seems very clear: it will be a sector that continues to produce ingenious solutions bringing greater convenience to customers’ lives, for many more years to come.
