ON Friday, Grab Malaysia released its 2020/2021 Food Trends Report – their first report of this kind – filled with data on Malaysians appetite during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A total of 13,000 GrabFood consumers, from six countries around Southeast Asia, were surveyed.
The pandemic accelerated the adoption of online food delivery by Malaysians, which will only continue to grow into the future. In fact, the report says 87% of consumers said they will continue ordering from food delivery platforms, citing convenience as their main reason.
According to Grab, Malaysia’s food delivery expenditure for 2020 alone contributed an estimated US$817 million (RM3.38 billion), which is quite remarkable for a country with a population of fewer than 33 million people.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the top food categories searched on GrabFood in 2020 were fast food, pizza, bubble tea, sushi, cake, burger, tea, coffee, dessert, and chicken.
The survey data says 46% of meals consumed in Malaysia last year were via dining out, delivery or takeaway. Given the popularity of mamak restaurants before the pandemic, and the Malaysian culture of finding new places to eat, this is no real surprise.
In that regard, there’s been a 13% increase in meals ordered using delivery services, compared to a 9% increase in home-cooked meals.
Online surveys also point out that families with children are the main consumers of food delivery services, which makes sense as they have to juggle crowded schedules and at least a handful of people at home.
The biggest benefits are saving time and being able to order food that is too much of a hassle to make at home, specifically pizza, baked goods and pasta dishes (this is based on the survey data). Pizza alone was searched 1,700,000 times on GrabFood in 2020.
Order sizes have grown with many consumers ordering larger meals presumably for their families, probably reflecting the various lockdowns that had people cooped up for extended periods. Close to 70% of consumers are ordering on behalf of their family, compared to just over 60% in 2019.
A little surprisingly, breakfast saw the highest growth in the number of orders. Not only did the size of orders increase by 20%, orders for coffee and tea also grew by over six times. Roti canai, chicken and egg sandwich, and nasi lemak ayam goreng were the most popular items.
It’s no surprise that every Malaysian loves chicken (unless they are vegetarian, of course) and the numbers back this up with 8 million chicken-based meals ordered during lunchtime in 2020.
A positive trend is that 7 out 10 surveyed consumers indicated they want to eat healthier and 44% also shared that they are willing to pay more for healthier food. Orders from health food eateries also increased by three times in 2020, up from 2019.
Going forward, Grab hopes to capitalise on consumers’ reliance on food delivery apps. The recent Local Heroes campaign has helped out smaller local merchants, with one in three consumers ordering more from homegrown businesses to support them. – The Vibes, November 1, 2021
