Eating in is the new dining out and it’s causing a food delivery market boom. Being home bound in the midst of COVID-19 has certainly lent itself to an increased urge to order out. After all, no matter what’s going on we all have to eat. Whether it’s takeout, meal plans, or groceries many of us are using food delivery services a lot more than the norm and it’s resulting in a market boom.
However, the online food delivery market was already realizing significant growth prior to the pandemic. According to Forbes back in September 2019 the food delivery market was projected to be a $200 billion industry by 2025 and was already rapidly changing the global food industry. In fact, this market change was having a huge negative impact on dine-in restaurant businesses resulting in several closures.
Forbes also reported that Uber Eats, who just launched in 2014 was already, by 2019, valued at an impressive $20 billion. Also, according to The Atlantic in 2015, for the first time on record, Americans spent more money at restaurants than at grocery stores. Yet, this wasn’t for in-restaurant dining. Prior to the pandemic more than half of restaurant spending was projected to be spent on deliveries, drive-thrus, and takeaway meals.
Meanwhile, over the past few years venture capitalists have been spending billions of dollars subsidizing meal-delivery services the likes of DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Postmates. As of 2020, the global food delivery market is now worth over $100 billion and, if current rates of growth are sustained, it size will have almost doubled between 2017 and 2023.
This market boom indicates that consumers want on-demand dinner. Why dine out when you can enjoy the same meal from the comfort of your own home? Yet, how COVID-19 ultimately impacts this market boom is still to be determined.
Whether the food delivery market boom makes eating in the new dining out for the long haul is unknown. Will extended periods of social distancing forever change human behavioral norms resulting in the evolution of a species of home bound hermits? Or will the infection of cabin fever result in humanity becoming wildly social creatures who are overly eager to dine out after endless months of being forced indoors? Or will the need for instant gratification continue to reign supreme as it was prior to COVID-19 resulting in the growth trend of this market? In the end, will this market boom fly or endure a fatal crash? Which way the pendulum swings is yet to be determined.
