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It was also revealed that South Africans have a habit of ordering food very late at night.
New data from Uber Eats’ 2024 Cravings Report displays the country’s top food delivery trends giving insight into people’s behaviours. Picture: DigiPub/Getty Images
Uber Eats has revealed that Joburgers and Pretorians placed 1.2 million late-night orders between 11pm and 3am in 2024.
New data from Uber Eats’ 2024 Cravings Report displays the country’s top food delivery trends, giving insight into people’s behaviours.
“The insights from the Cravings Report provide a compelling look at our shared love for food, convenience and dining trends,” said Uber Eats South Africa Head of Communications Cassie Jaganyi.
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South African favourites
The most popular food order was chicken. Poultry meat is the most searched item on the food app, with pap being its favourite companion.
Fried chips are another favourite of South Africans, and people in Mzansi insist on crispy ones.
The love for crispy chips is such that one person ordering said “no garnish, no sauce, crispy chips!!!” in eight different orders.
The report demonstrates South Africans’ embrace of the efficiency of food and grocery delivery apps.
One customer placed 2 378 orders in 2024, which is more than six orders a day, while another user ordered on 364 days of the year, giving the app and the delivery guys a break just for one day.
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South Africans and alcohol
Alcohol’s role in societal issues such as road safety, risky sexual behaviours and gender-based violence (GBV) has been widely reported.
South Africans’ fondness for liquor comes out in the report. The most expensive order of the year on Uber Eats was when a user spent more than R20 000 on a single order of cognac.
This amount is down from the R33 000 single day order in 2023.
That 2023 order was on two different occasions, ordering alcohol on the weekend the Springboks took on hosts France in the quarterfinal of the Rugby World Cup.
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Vegans moving around
In 2023, Johannesburg overtook Cape Town as the city with the most vegan orders. But in 2024, Durban emerged as the most vegan-friendly city, with 0.6% of all orders being plant-based.
However, Joburg and Pretoria collectively ordered the most vegan dishes.
The report further stressed perceptions about vegans’ kindness, revealing that Margate, a town in KZN’s south coast, was the friendliest in the country, as they use the most “pleases” and “thank yous” in order requests.
Joburg and Pretoria were close behind.
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Interesting stats
One of the most interesting stats was that one courier travelled nearly 40 000 kilometres in 2024, clocking in 4 500 service hours and making 7 959 trips.
The distance is just short of the Earth’s circumference, which is 40 075 kilometres.
One driver delivered 320 orders to the same customer in 2024. Another person placed an order of 706 meals for two in 2024.
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