Grubhub Releases Annual Year in Food Report Detailing the Top Trends of 2021

CHICAGO, Dec. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The end of the year is near, but before we say goodbye to 2021, we're rewinding to see how we ate and drank our way through another year of change. Grubhub, a leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery marketplace, today released findings from its annual "Year in Food" report. Grubhub analyzed orders from over 32 million diners to see what rose in popularity throughout the year while highlighting Grubhub diners' generosity and how they gave back to communities and restaurants in need. In addition, diners will receive their personalized "Taste of 2021" recap to get a glimpse of their favorite cuisines, menu items, and order habits throughout the year. Grubhub diners can also visit the Taste of 2021 website to browse trends and win an exclusive deal for their next order.

TOP ORDERS OF THE YEAR

2020 was the year of comfort foods, and 2019 was full of vegetarian-friendly orders, and 2021 gave us a mix of both! The Impossible cheeseburger rose to prominence, increasing 442% in popularity, providing diners with a healthier version of an iconic food staple.

Side Dishes: chips and your favorite dip were the perfect complements to a good meal.

Dessert: a blend of delectable classics and delivery staples proved to be the most popular.

Fun Fact: A diner purchased 200 bacon cheeseburgers in one order! Why?! That's for you to guess.

TOP ORDERS BY MEALTIME

Breakfast: early birds ordered traditional favorites to start the day.

Lunch: a mixed bag of trendy foods and a seasonal favorite.

Dinner: familiar foods were ordered after a long day.

Late night: night owls flocked to Hispanic foods to end their nights... or early mornings.

TOP FOODS BY CITY

New York City

Los Angeles

Chicago 

San Francisco

Philadelphia

Dallas 

Houston

Boston

Atlanta

Washington D.C.

2022 FORECAST

While it's hard to predict the future of food, we've given it our best shot by analyzing hundreds of millions of orders over the past three years to provide you with our prediction on the top foods of 2022. In no particular ranking, here are the orders that are bound to rise in popularity next year.

• Margherita flatbread pizza
• Buffalo chicken tots
• Peanut butter protein smoothie
• Cajun steakburger
• Apple cobbler

BEVERAGES

This year, diners settled into their new morning routines, which saw coffee orders rise 100% in popularity. Alcohol orders increased by 11% and the margarita was the first alcohol order to crack the top orders of the year.

Coffee

Alcohol

VEGAN & VEGETARIAN

Similar to 2020, vegan and vegetarian-friendly orders continued to steadily improve. In 2021, vegan and vegetarian-friendly orders grew by 16% and 13%, in comparison to 2020.

Vegan

Vegetarian

Most Vegan-Friendly States

CONVENIENCE

With more time spent at home these days, it's important to have all of your convenience and grocery essentials whenever you need them.

Top Convenience Orders

Candies

We're making it even easier for diners to grab all of their convenience and grocery essentials. We've partnered with Instacart for a limited time to offer existing Grubhub diners two months of Instacart Express for free and $10 off of their first Instacart order over $35. Annual Instacart Express members can also receive 12 months of Grubhub+ for free, including unlimited free delivery on Grubhub orders over $12 from more than 300,000 restaurants nationwide, exclusive perks and members-only deals, and donation matching when members donate their change to a charity at checkout.

FOODIE HONORS 

Not every state eats equally, so a few states received high honors due to their specific ordering habits throughout the year.

• Most generous state: New Mexico has the highest average tip percentage.
• Most outdoorsy state:California has the highest percentage of pickup orders.
• Most chill state: Hawaii has the highest percentage of weekend orders.
• Wildest state:Rhode Island has the highest percentage of late-night orders.
• Most high-rollin' state:Alaska has the highest average spend per order.
• Most romantic state:North Dakota has the highest percentage of two-dish orders.
• Most celebratory state:Washington, D.C. has the highest percentage of alcohol orders.
• Hungriest state: New York has the highest number of orders

BEST OF GRUBHUB

We took a look at some delivery staples and the restaurants across the country that took home the title - "Best of Grubhub" - for each dish.

• Burgers: Mel's Burger Bar - a casual bar and burger joint in Manhattan, NY that serves up a variety of delicious bar fare like the spicy Hot Mess Burger.
• Pizza: Joe's Pizza - the iconic pizza shop has been serving some of the best pizza around in Brooklyn, NY for over 37 years.
• Tacos: Baja Valley Fish & Tacos - a casual restaurant, known for its signature Baja Cali style fish tacos & delicious aguas frescas in suburban Los Angeles.
• Dumplings: Su Xing House - offers authentic Chinese vegetarian cuisine in Philadelphia, PA.
• Chicken wings: Hartbreakers - A fast-casual, 70's inspired all vegan restaurant in Brooklyn, NY.

SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES

As the world continues to recover from the pandemic, we haven't slowed our support for restaurants and local and national charitable organizations. Through the Restaurant Strong Fund, Donate the Change and Grubhub Community Relief Fund we've raised over $30 million in 2021.

Restaurant Strong Fund: Grubhub and The Greg Hill Foundation's Restaurant Strong Fund have supported restaurants across the country to help them survive the pandemic and beyond. In 2021 alone, Grubhub and the Restaurant Strong Fund have given $6 million in grants to restaurants.

Donate the Change: For diners that opt-in to Donate the Change, Grubhub will round up their order total to the nearest dollar and donate the change to a charitable organization. Grubhub also matches all donations on Grubhub+ orders. In 2021, the Grubhub community raised over $24 millionthrough our Donate the Change feature.

Grubhub Community Relief Fund:  We also created the Grubhub Community Relief Fund to give proceeds to organizations that provide relief for our restaurants and drivers. To date, the Grubhub community has raised $18 millionto help support charitable organizations that support restaurants and drivers.

Methodology: Grubhub's "Year in Food" report is based on trends gathered from tens of millions of orders on the Grubhub platform. Order trends detail the rise in popularity of food items placed by Grubhub diners from January-November 2021, as compared to the same timeframe in 2020.

About Grubhub
Grubhub is part of Just Eat Takeaway.com (LSE: JET, AMS: TKWY, NASDAQ: GRUB), a leading global online food delivery marketplace. Dedicated to connecting more than 32 million diners with the food they love from their favorite local restaurants, Grubhub elevates food ordering through innovative restaurant technology, easy-to-use platforms and an improved delivery experience. Grubhub features more than 300,000 restaurant partners in over 4,000 U.S. cities.

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SOURCE Grubhub Inc.