Here’s what South Africans are eating during lockdown

The second annual Cravings Report from Uber Eats is out and, in addition to praising our good manners when using the App, it turns out South Africans also have some of the most peculiar takeaway tastes.

Maybe our diverse heritage, and love of curries and peri-peri is to blame, but when it came to ordering extra trimmings, chillies seemed to be a firm favourite.

According to Uber Eats’ latest report, over 5000 orders were made in the ‘hot’ category, while at least 1300 went a step further and requested ‘extra hot’.

Medium to mild was less of a crowd-pleaser but still performed well for those who prefer sweet over spicy.

SA still polite, even with weird order instructions.

When it came to local being lekker, SA remained true to their love of familiar flavours, with over 1000 orders requesting traditional pap instead of rice, chakalaka salad dressing and atchaar, which remains the most ordered extra with meals such as braaied meat, kotas and pizzas.

And speaking of pizzas, an estimated 4000 requests were made to not include cheese in their meals – with a percentage of these being for pizza orders. This can only be the work of the vegans!

All in all, Uber Eats says that during the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, South Africans had made a shift towards healthier, reserved eating habits.

Meat was commonly swapped for vegetarian-friendly options, while there was a stark increase in vegan orders placed.

The keyword “healthy” grew by an astonishing 82% while overall healthy orders increased by 71%.

Some may think our eating habits are weird but in spite of our unique tastes, South Africa was also rated at number three globally on the app’s statistics when it comes to using “please” and “thank you” on comments and requests.

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