Restaurant delivery continued to go strong in 2024, with customers opting for trendy items such as hot honey and espresso as well as perennials like chicken and pickles.
That’s according to Grubhub’s 2024 Delivered Report, which tracks delivery orders to consumers’ homes, workplaces, college campuses and hotels from restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores. Grubhub concluded that even when it felt a bit “extra” there was little hesitation to “add to bag,” leading the company to declare 2024 the year of “Doing the Most.”
Protein was one of the areas where consumers went all in. Extra protein was requested on 15% of Grubhub orders from Chipotle Mexican Grill, and 40% of all restaurant orders included chicken. Chicken also played a starring role in Grubhub grocery store orders; it was purchased almost three times as often as beef.
Protein-rich cottage cheese also experienced a social media-fueled resurgence, skyrocketing to a mind-boggling one ton delivered by Grubhub alone. Most of the cottage cheese was ordered from grocery stores, where it was transformed into flatbreads and toasts at home.
But back on the restaurant front, when the summer song “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter hit the top of the charts the week of June 22, orders of espresso drinks swelled. In total, customers added more espresso shots to orders this year compared to 2023, with lattes getting the most play; Grubhub delivered 15,000 latte variations in the last 12 months.
Surprisingly, the “city that never sleeps” didn’t order the most espresso. New York came in fifth, with Miami, Los Angeles, Denver and Boston leading the pack in that order. College students did their part in adding to the coffee coffers, with campuses on the east coast consuming the most caffeine.
Energy drinks also revved up the college scene. Whether it was in anticipation of spring break or to jump start the semester, February saw the highest energy drink orders across campuses, up nearly a third compared to other months.
Consumers haven’t soured on pickles yet either. There was a 14% increase in pickle-packed orders this year, and they went beyond pizza and burger toppings in creativity. People substituted large pickle slices for bread as sandwich carriers and requested sodas flavored with pickle juice.
Mexican food continues to be a popular delivery choice—it offers lots of variety and travels well. But this year, customers moved up from the usual quesadillas and nachos to birria. The dippable braised beef tacos soared to nearly 1.3 million orders in 2024.
And let’s not overlook “swicy”—the word we’d love to forget but the flavor profile that remains memorable and craveable. The sweet-heat blend, often achieved with a drizzle of hot honey, showed up in cocktails, sauces, snacks, chicken sandwiches and cool drinks. But Grubhub noticed the biggest jump in grocery store orders, where purchases of hot honey increased by 30%.
Menu items dubbed “family meals” also saw traction. Instead of cooking dinner for a crowd, consumers ordered in, with family meals from restaurants topping 1.6 million.
And here’s another marketing opportunity for restaurants. Hotel guests ordered delivered meals at dinnertime to the tune of 60%. Instead of getting dressed and heading out to eat, these customers chose to experience local flavors and chain restaurant favorites in PJs in the comfort of their hotel rooms.
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