Plant-based Food Trends During COVID-19
Interest in Plant-based Foods Is Booming – Adding and Promoting Meatless Items Can Help Attract and Retain Customers
According to research from top delivery app platforms DoorDash and Grubhub, which represent 67% of meal delivery sales (June 2020), plant-based orders have remained high and have been a growth category in both pre and post-COVID.
Including plant-based menu items, even on a reduced online menu, can help businesses remain competitive. According to Grubhub, vegan orders have risen by 23%, plant-based burgers specifically increasing by 90% and general plant-based orders by 135%.
Top Online Menu Items (Growth Categories) That are Plant-Based
- Plant-based Meat Burgers
- Mac & Cheese
- Tacos
- Pizza
- Breakfast Burritos
- Oatmeal
- Cheese Nachos
- Smoothies
- Vegetable Samosas
- Cookies
- Spinach & Artichoke Dip
- Vegetable Pasta
Interesting Food Preferences and Trends
- Mexican is the number one food type people miss, followed by sushi
- Most people are craving comfort food vs healthy foods
- 20% of DoorDash respondents have seriously considered veganism, and 6% are or have been vegan at some point in time
- Vegetable pasta is the most appetizing vegan dish among options, ranked first by 31%. By contrast, tofu dishes are least appetizing, ranked last by 36%
- 18-24 year olds ranked plant-based meat first at 27% instead of vegetable pasta, showing that this age group is all-in on plant-based meat
- 28% have ordered a specific dish because they saw it on Instagram. 10% did so because it would look good in a photo, ie, to post on their social media feed
- The most common dish that Americans order because of Instagram is pasta
Learn more about the benefits of Meatless Monday and plant-based menu items at MeatlessMonday.com/Foodservice