Uber Eats reveals the language of food spoken by South Africans
- Published
Did you know that pizza is South Africans’ favourite Italian dish, with 80% of people making it their meal of choice and only 20% picking pasta? Would you be among the 55% of folks who celebrate a special occasion with an ice-cream or the 45% who do so with a milkshake? Do you, like 56% of South Africans, say ‘I love you’ with donuts, or is chocolate your (and 44% of people’s) go-to?
These are some of the stats that have emerged from Uber Eats’ nationwide quest to uncover the language of food.
The food delivery platform recently took to social media and set up a booth in Sandton City, Johannesburg to discover how South Africans ‘speak’ this universal language.
In Sandton, the Uber Eats crew – equipped with an ECG machine and a nurse named Nick – asked 104 people to order food via the Uber Eats app which could be brought to them to enjoy, delivered to a friend close by, or they could have the Rand equivalent donated to a local charity. All this was done whilst measuring their heart rates.
The majority of participants (94%) opted to order meals for themselves, with the most popular food types being pizza (23%) and Asian (18%), with burgers, health foods and desserts all tying in third place with 14% of participants ordering these. So it seems that when treating ourselves, South Africans prefer to ‘speak’ Italian. While placing their orders, the survey participants’ heart rates rose by 8.44 beats per minute on average, with 27% having heart rates over 100 (the normal resting heart rate) – all of which reveal the excitement and anticipation that come with ordering takeout (and getting a free meal).
On social media, followers from around the country showed how they speak the Language of Food by taking part in polls. Each day for a week, Uber Eats posed different questions and gave fans the chance to choose between two options. Among the insights gathered from these was that 53% of people feel most excited when ordering sushi for delivery, versus the 47% who get amped awaiting the arrival of a juicy steak. Another (unsurprising) observation gleaned was that 78% of South Africans turn to comfort food when feeling down, with 22% of us choosing something healthy instead.
“Many Uber Eats users say they order food to enhance their mood. We wanted to find out directly how people react to food as well as educate consumers on the Language of Food that we all speak. From our research, we have seen that not only does food make South Africans incredibly happy, with upticks in heart rate, but that we are fluent in ‘Italian’ – pizza in particular. With Uber Eats delivering food from anywhere at any time to anyone, we can all easily speak the Language of Food,” concludes Ailyssa Khan, General Manager of Uber Eats South Africa.
Edited by Daniëlle Kruger
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