Before the world experienced complete isolation and the height of social distancing, food either had to be consumed outside (restaurants, fast foods, etc.) or prepared after getting the ingredients from outside (supermarkets, farmers’ markets, etc.). Food delivery apps were a last resort; they were not the main goal.
The reasons for this way of thinking could be many: perhaps it was the increase in price, perhaps human nature didn’t allow us to understand the idea that with a simple click, food could be at your door, perhaps we weren’t as prone to laziness as we now are, or perhaps humanity was just so used to a world where the movement was a necessity and essential to a healthy mentality.
Whatever the case may be, statistics have proved that, once again, COVID-19 has affected more than human health, and a new mentality has been created.
In 2021, The New York Times reported that although restaurant spending had dropped 35% from 2020, revenue for delivery services increased by 140%.
Suddenly the idea of getting your prepared food delivered to your door seemed remarkably beneficial; the pros heavily outweighed the cons.
This is not the impressive part; it is understandable to opt for the safest option, which is staying home safely as opposed to walking outside during a worldwide pandemic. However, when the threat of this killer virus was no longer existing, and we became a post-pandemic society, people still relied on food delivery apps for survival. We now see apps that deliver not only food but also ingredients.
This speaks wildly about how the pandemic has perpetually affected our perspective of food. While before, food was seen as an outdoor activity, a gateway to family or partner bonding in the outside world. It is now preferred to be paired with a home sofa, a big tv screen, and the newest Netflix show. Transporting and movement now is not an activity but a burden.
It has even affected family routines. Sitting down as a family to eat dinner after work or school may have been normal before the pandemic when that was the only time one had available to spend with family. But when there was no work or school to come home from due to quarantine, there was no need for a family sit-down dinner. This remained to be the case post-covid.
Food delivery apps have now become the new normal, and while they’re not booming as much as they were during the pandemic, they are being used more than they were before it. And economic experts are claiming that “delivery is here to stay.” The food industry, along with society, has undergone a dramatic change, one it will have to get used to.
