The Rise of Online Food Delivery Services: Global trends and their disruptive impact on our food environments

Online Food Delivery Services are becoming a popular mode of purchasing out-of-home meals, with a projected global increase from 800 million users in 2018 to almost 2.9 billion users in 2029. This week, VicHealth Postdoctoral Researcher Adyya Gupta (@AdyyaGupta) and Deakin Distinguished Professor Anna Peeters (@AnnaPeetersAus), of Deakin University (@IHT_Deakin @GLOBE_Deakin) explain the burgeoning trend of online food delivery services and their implications for public health.

The New Normal

Much of what is ordered on food delivery platforms isn’t healthy. Photo credit: Norma Mortenson on Pexels

Digitalization of the food environment has enabled new ways to buy and sell food, with online food delivery services experiencing substantial growth in the last two decades. Some popular online food delivery services include Uber Eats® (in Australia), GrubHub® (in United States (US)), Just Eat® (in United Kingdom (UK)) and SkiptheDishes (in Canada). This surge in popularity was initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic that forced many restaurants to close their dining rooms, making food delivery the only option for customers to purchase out-of-home meals. The convenience of ordering from a wide variety of restaurants with just a few simple clicks of the app combined with the conveniences of rapid, trackable home delivery have increased the popularity of online food delivery services.

Globally, by 2025, online food delivery services are projected to reach a market value of US$200 billion. Additionally, many online food delivery services have now expanded their services to include online groceries, online alcohol and other essentials (e.g., pharmacies), making them even more integral to consumers’ daily life. With the ongoing threat of COVID-19 variants and the convenience of having meals delivered right to the doorstep, it seems online food delivery services are here to stay.

While this boom has been a lifeline for many businesses and consumers, it also raises some public health challenges. Emerging evidence shows that the food offered on the online food delivery services are often nutrient poor. Recent data from Australia, the US and the UK suggests that overall consumption of out-of-home meals has increased. Regular consumption of out-of-home meals is linked to high daily energy intakes and an increased risk of adverse health outcomes including obesity, type-2 diabetes, heart disease, oral disease and some cancers.


Understanding global trends in online food delivery service use

With the aim to examine trends in online food delivery services use, we undertook a research study where we conducted a multi-country analysis for 83,337 adults living in Australia, Canada, Mexico, the UK, and the US between 2018 to 2021. Specifically, the two key objectives of our study were to estimate: 1) the proportion of the adult sample population purchasing meals per week using online food delivery services; and 2) the average number of meals purchased per week using online food delivery services, including comparison with other conventional purchase formats: ordered directly from a restaurant and delivered; purchased in person at a restaurant/ food outlet within 5 minutes of their home, excluding delivery; and purchased in person at a restaurant/food outlet more than 5 minutes from their home, excluding delivery.

We found that, 1) nearly three-quarters of the adult population across Australia, Canada, Mexico, the UK, and the US purchased at least one meal per week prepared outside home from 2018 to 2021, and one-quarter to one-third used an online food delivery service; and, 2) the average number of meals purchased using online food delivery services nearly doubled between 2018 and 2021 for all countries with little or no change to the overall purchasing of meals prepared outside home. Our study found that the adult population living in Mexico had the highest percentage of meals purchased outside home and using online food delivery services, followed by those living in the UK, Australia, the US, and Canada. Additionally, on average one or more out-of-home meals per week was purchased using other conventional food purchase formats in all countries.


What it means for our health

In simple terms, the results of our study suggest that the popularity of online food delivery services is rising, and while the trends we observed may reflect a period of transition after the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic for both food service owners and consumers, this slow growth suggests a potential shift towards more online food delivery services usage over time, aligning with broader trends in online shopping, including online grocery shopping. The easy access to and aggressive promotions of unhealthy foods and drinks on online food delivery services indicates a new public health risk, with the potential to drive an increase in the rates of diet-related non communicable diseases. Additionally, risk of precarious employment for delivery couriers on online food delivery services and the impact of food packaging further adds to health and environmental risks.


What can be done

While online food delivery services use is on the rise, access to the other traditional modes of food purchasing continue to remain relevant. In the absence of any regulatory framework to monitor the nutritional quality of foods sold, marketing practices and consumer purchasing patterns on online food delivery services, we recommend extending the existing public health nutrition strategies and policies to tackle unhealthy (online) retail food environments. For example, these actions could include:

Conducted over three years, our comprehensive analysis provides critical insights into the growing reliance on online food delivery services for food procurement and its public health implications. As the popularity of online food delivery services shows no signs of slowing down, it’s clear that these services have become an essential part of modern living. It is therefore imperative to monitor these online food delivery services diligently to safeguard population health and environment; and promote healthy behaviours.

 

Adyya Gupta currently holds a VicHealth Postdoctoral Research Fellowship which examines how online food delivery platforms market to and influence young people’s ordering choices. Her views may not reflect the position of VicHealth.  

Posted by Susan Maury (@SusanMaury)

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