Grubhub: We Went Out of Our Comfort Zone When Ordering Food This Year
Food orders went left this year as Grubhub’s annual 2023 Delivered report shows the unusual and out of the norm trends in food people ordered over the last 12 months.
From 10 million coffee beverages ordered after 5pm, to over 53 million items ordered with added spice, the year was marked by bold choices.
“While last year’s biggest trend was diners seeking comfort wrapped in a warm burrito,” said Grubhub in a press release. “In 2023 ‘doing it for the vibes’ was a way of life as diners found joy in stepping out of their comfort zones and breaking conventions, such as embracing pineapple on pizza and ordering salads with a side of fries.”
Let’s just dive in to see what they found when aggregating millions of orders in 2023.
Scoville Scales were off the charts
In 2023, over 53 million items were ordered with added spice. Classic favorites like Sriracha were added over 91,000 times, and buffalo chicken wings came in first as the most ordered wing flavor followed by lemon pepper, BBQ, Teriyaki and Garlic Parmesan.
Work breaks hit different with a diet soda
The #dietcokebreak trended with over 43 million views on TikTok, and people rushed to Grubhub to get their fix with in-office orders of Diet Coke increasing by 17% in 2023.
Burning the midnight oil
People were winding up, not winding down this year with over 10 million coffee beverages ordered after 5pm.
Real milk made a comeback
This year, cows had a comeback as dairy in coffee beverages had a 20% increase and whole milk took the lead among the top 3 dairy orders followed by 2% milk, and chocolate milk.
Healthy with a side of fries
Over 600,000 customers ordered their salad paired with french fries in 2023. While prior years were all about wellness, in 2023 we didn’t just settle for salads alone, but embraced our favorite part of the meal: the french fry – making it the top ordered side dish of 2023.
People put pineapple on pizza
In the spirit of ‘doing it for the vibes’, people didn’t hold back especially when it came to their pizza. In 2023, Hawaiian Pizza lovers ordered pineapple with pride. This topping on pizza rose 33% since last year – yum?
Pickles were on everything
Pickles had the largest increase since last year as an individual ordered item with an 89% increase, totaling over 6.9 million orders in 2023. People embraced their love of pickles – from food to fashion (if you own the viral pickle sweatshirt, we see you) – and put the salty, briny indulgences on everything.
Get your own!
Curious about your own 2023 Delivered report? Today, Grubhub is also sending diners their customized recap report that unwraps their individual ordering journey throughout the year.
📷 by Mizuno K.
