Food Delivery Options Altering Dining Habits in British Columbia

A third of British Columbians—including 44% of those aged 18-to-34—have ordered food delivery using an app on their phone.

Vancouver, BC [February 28, 2020] – Some British Columbians are relying more often on food delivery at home, a trend that is more prevalent among Millennials, a new Research Co. poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative provincial sample, three-in-ten British Columbians (30%) say they are ordering food delivery to their homes more often than five years ago.

In addition, 45% of British Columbians report no change from their food ordering habits since 2015, while 22% are partaking in this behaviour less often than five years ago.

“Age is the key differentiator when it comes to the reliance of British Columbians on food delivery,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “While only 9% of those aged 55 and over and 26% of those aged 35-to-54 are ordering in more often than five years ago, the proportion increases to 45% among British Columbians aged 18-to-34.”

Across the province, 43% of British Columbians said they had food delivered to their home after placing a phone call to a specific restaurant over the past year, while more than a third (36%) ordered online through the website of a restaurant or chain.

One third of British Columbians (32%) relied on a food delivery app on their phone, such as DoorDash, GrubHub, Uber Eats, Foodora or Skip The Dishes. This particular way or ordering food currently finds more acceptance in Metro Vancouver (34%) than in other regions of the province.

British Columbians aged 18-to-34 are significantly more likely to have ordered food through an app in the past year(44%) than those aged 35-to-54 (30%) and those aged 55 and over (13%).

Just over one-in-five British Columbians (22%) order food that is delivered to their home “about once a week or more”, while one-in-five (25%) order food that they pick up themselves from a restaurant at the same rate.

A slightly larger proportion of British Columbians (28%) dine out at a restaurant “about once a week or more”, including 36% of those in the Fraser Valley.

Methodology:

Results are based on an online study conducted from February 11 to February 14, 2020, among 800 adult British Columbians. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. The margin of error— which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.

Find our full dataset here and download the press release here.

For more information on this poll, please contact:

Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca