Almost two million Australians aged 14+ (9.8%) currently use food delivery apps such as Uber Eats, Menulog/Eatnow.com.au, Deliveroo or other meal delivery services in an average three months, according to Roy Morgan’s latest research.
Roy Morgan said in a statement the recent research into Australians and their eating habits focused on the emerging phenomenon of meal delivery services such as long-standing Australian service Menulog which began in 2006 and has since merged with Eatnow.com.au and newer entrants including UberEats, Deliveroo and Foodora, which have all appeared in Australia since mid-2015.
Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, said meal delivery services have emerged in recent years although there are still only a minority of Australians taking advantage of the new services.
“Almost two million Australians now use meal delivery services such as Uber Eats, Menulog, Eatnow.com.au, Deliveroo, Foodora, Lite n’Easy. HelloFresh, Youfoodz, Muscle Meals Direct, Choice Fresh Meats, Weight Watchers, Marley Spoon, Dinner Sorted, My Goodness Organics, Fresh Meals 2 U, Dietlicious, Gourmet Dinner Service, Eat Fit Food, Jenny Craig or Dinner Ladies,” said Levine.
The research company found out unsurprisingly city-dwellers (12.6%) are far more likely to have had their meals delivered than those in country areas (4.5%). Women are marginally more likely to use meal delivery services (10.2%) than men (9.4%).
Australia’s younger generations have taken keenly to meal delivery services with 16.1% of Millennials/ Gen Y (aged 28-42 years old) having used a meal delivery service in an average three months compared to only 4.5% of Baby Boomers and just 3.6% of Pre-Boomers.
“I’m guessing there may be more meal delivery services than you realised. Many of the new meal delivery services are a product of the so-called ‘gig economy’ and this is particularly applicable to market leading Uber Eats. Uber Eats launched in Australia in April 2016 and already the leading meal delivery service for the early adopting ‘Metrotechs’.
“16.4% of Metrotechs use Uber Eats in an average three months compared to 13.4% using Menulog/Eatnow.com.au (the two companies merged in recent years), 7.3% using Deliveroo and 3.8% using Foodora.”
Roy Morgan said the take up of meal delivery is not just about age, certain communities have really taken to meal delivery – as its geo-psychographic segmentation Helix Personas shows. About 22.5% of those living in a Metrotech community use meal delivery services – predominantly young, single, well-educated, inner-city professionals.
Although Uber Eats is a newer meal delivery service than other leading brands, launching in Australia just two years ago in April 2016, the service has quickly taken off. Uber Eats is used by 16.4% of Metrotechs putting it ahead of Menulog/Eatnow.com.au on 13.4%, Deliveroo on 7.3% and Foodora on 3.8%.
