Post-pandemic, nearly half of Canadians intend to order food online weekly (Survey)
The online food boom is real—and it’s here to stay.
The Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, in partnership with data insights firm Caddle, surveyed 7,290 Canadians in early November. The report, “The impact of COVID-19 on the food industry and e-commerce,” looks at what online food services Canadians are using and why.
The survey found that 63.8% of Canadians have ordered food online in some capacity over the last six months. A total of 31.3% have used curbside pickup or home-delivery services from grocery retailers in that time frame. That’s followed by food delivered directly from a restaurant (28.6%), a delivery app such as Uber Eats or Skip the Dishes (26.3%), meal kits from providers like Chef’s Plate and HelloFresh (12.8%), and farmers’ market items using local delivery services (4.1%).
The results indicate that Canadians’ online food-shopping habits will stick. Before the pandemic, 29.6% of Canadians said they ordered food online once a week. In the last six months, that went up to 45.4%. When asked if they intend to order food online at least once a week after the pandemic, nearly half (49.4%) said yes.
“There is a momentum and
Convenience is the most popular reason Canadians ordered food online (33.8%). This is followed by concern about the virus and their health (13.8%) and mandatory self-isolation (6.9%). When it comes to what they’re buying, the most popular items are fast food (33.1%), followed by fruits and vegetables (22%), dairy products (21.5%), and bakery (20.6%).
Respondents were also asked what they dislike most about ordering food online. The top five reasons are: I can’t see the food before I purchase it (17.9%), I am concerned about the quality of the food (14.6%), unconfirmed product substitutions (9.2%), I do not like other people touching my food (8.6%), and packaging that is not environmentally friendly (3.1%).