Food trends 2022: Surprising meal is our fave fast food delivery option

An end of year report by food delivery giant DoorDash shows one state is far healthier than others while nationwide we favour a particularly juicy takeaway meal more than anything else.

Victorians are the healthiest eaters in Australia according to an end of year trend report by food delivery giant DoorDash.

They ordered twice as many salads, health food bowls and non-fast-food options than Queenslanders this year, while the people of Goulburn in NSW have been named as the most indulgent, ordering the most fast-food including fries, burgers, chicken wings, pizza and tacos.

Melbourne accountant Charlie Westacott, 24, says using the service is the best way for him to maintain a healthy diet.

“Most days of the week I work at the office in Docklands, but two days a week I work from home and prefer to go to the gym at lunchtime because it’s quiet,” Hopkins says.

“By the time I get home though, I don’t have time to spend 20-30 minutes cooking my lunch because I log straight on to my computer. So, when I’m at the gym, I time it perfectly to order my food so it’s there as soon as I get home.”

He uses the service for at least one dinner and one lunch each week, favouring Vietnamese rice paper rolls, banh mi, or Mexican high protein mixed bowls from Fonda.

“I try to eat well most of the time and thought these were the healthiest options,” he says.

Melbourne accountant Charlie Westacott, 24, says using the Doordash service is the best way for him to maintain a healthy diet.

Burgers were found to be the most popular food ordered by DoorDash customers across the nation this year, followed by Indian and Thai.

Troy McDonagh, managing director of national restaurant chain Betty’s Burgers, says delivery services are such a key part of his business now that he has to cater to their needs when setting up new venues.

“We’ve just opened our 53rd restaurant at Eastland Shopping Centre in Melbourne and our 54th at Hornsby in Sydney,” McDonagh says.

“When we’re looking at new restaurant locations, we have parking facilities in mind because when we build our restaurants, we ensure there’s plenty of room for the drivers, and that car and bike locations are easily accessible for the drivers.

“We take all of that into account to make sure it’s as easy as possible for the drivers. That’s how significant a part of the business it is for us.

“The CBD and metro areas are where it’s most popular, and less in regional and coastal communities such as Noosa and Byron Bay,” McDonagh says.

“Friday is our biggest business day for deliveries and it’s all about convenience because the only effort required is the ability to push a button at the end of your phone.”

Troy McDonagh is Betty's Burgers' managing director.

Victorians also had the highest coffee orders, for latte, followed by NSW where cappuccino is the most popular coffee beverage.

Interestingly, the shortest delivery distance order was just 150m away, proving that the power of convenience is king when it comes to food delivery.

DoorDash general manager Rebecca Burrows says while the report shows the breadth of support for Australian restaurants, the delivery mode of shopping is broad.

“The report gives us an in-depth look inside the appetites of Australians and reveals the breadth of delivery items in demand,” Burrows says.

BIGGEST SPENDERS

Here are the top 5 biggest orders in 2022:

1. 103 pieces of fried chicken from Sol BBQ – $4700

2. 40 plates of Big Brekkie – $3200

3. 30 bottles of vodka, tequila and whisky – $2300

4. 20 packs each of vitamins, supplements, ointment and more from My Chemist – $1800

5. 100 unique grocery items from Coles – $1600

Betty's Burgers are popular on Friday nights.

MOST INDULGENT EATERS

Top cities for ordering the most fast food, including fries, burgers, chicken wings, pizza and tacos.

1. Goulburn, NSW

2. Burnie, TAS

3. Coffs Harbour, NSW

4. Orange, NSW

5. Palmerston, NT

6. Alice Springs, NT

7. Traralgon, VIC

8. Armidale, NSW

9. Whyalla, NSW

10. Bunbury, WA

DIY PICK-UP

Melburnians love to walk as proven by the top cities with the highest number of pick-up orders in Australia.

1. Melbourne

2. Sydney

3. Geelong

4. Canberra

5. Adelaide

6. Sunshine Coast

7. Brisbane

8. Perth

9. Gold Coast

10. Central Coast

MOST ROMANTIC CITY

City with the most flowers orders:

1. Melbourne

2. Sydney

3. Adelaide

Melburnians are big latte drinkers.

COFFEE ADDICTS

States with the highest coffee orders.

1. VIC – Latte

2. NSW – Cappuccino

3. QLD – Iced coffee

4. WA – Iced latte

5. SA – Cappuccino

6. ACT – Flat white

MIDNIGHT ORDERS

Craving a midnight snack? Here are the Top 5 most ordered foods between 12am

and 5am

1. Halal snack pack

2. Garlic bread

3. Loaded fries

4. Margarita pizza

5. Hot chips

SWEET TOOTH

Top 10 desserts ordered in Australia in 2022.

1. Ice cream and gelato

2. Churros

3. Tiramisu

4. Cinnamon doughnuts

5. Hot apple pie

6. Chocolate mousse

7. Lava cake

8. Crepes

9. Vanilla slice

10. Nutella crepes

Ice cream.

EASY DOES IT

Most popular convenience items in Australia:

1. Milk

2. Bananas

3. Strawberries

4. Avocado

5. Bread

6. Eggs

7. Lebanese cucumbers

8. Toilet Rolls

9. Carrots

10. Broccoli

FEED ME

Most popular cuisines in Australia:

1. Burgers

2. Indian

3. Thai

4. Italian

5. Chinese

6. Middle Eastern

7. Japanese

8. Greek

9. Mexican

10. Vietnamese

Indian takeaway food.

POPULAR

Most ordered items in Australia:

1. Chips

2. Burgers

3. Butter chicken

4. Garlic naan

5. Pizza

6. Halal snack pack

7. Burrito

8. Frozen yoghurt

9. Pad See Ew

10. Honey chicken

Most Ordered Items by state:

VIC

1. Burgers

2. Italian

3. Indian

4. Middle Eastern

5. Thai

NSW

1. Burgers

2. Mexican

3. Thai

4. Middle Eastern

5. Indian

QLD

1. Burgers

2. Indian

3. Middle Eastern

4. Fish & chips

5. Japanese

WA

1. Burgers

2. Italian

3. Chinese

4. Indian

5. Thai

SA

1. Burgers

2. Indian

3. Vietnamese

4. Chinese

5. Korean

Mexican tacos.

TAS

1. Burgers

2. Mexican

3. Middle Eastern

4. Chinese

5. Italian

NT

1. Burgers

2. Mexican

3. Italian

4. Hawaiian

5. Fish & chips

ACT

1. Middle Eastern

2. Burgers

3. Chinese

4. Italian

5. Indian

Originally published as Food trends 2022: Surprising meal is our fave fast food delivery option