Our takeaway comfort food of choice during lockdown has come from the chipper, according to new statistics from one of the companies that process our orders.
Ireland's fish and chip shops received 26 per cent of all the meals we have bought this year from restaurants and takeaways that use the digital ordering platform Flipdish. The single most popular item was chips, which 19 per cent of customers added to their orders between December 20th, 2020, and April 28th this year. The second-most-popular item was curry or garlic sauce, which features in 15 per cent of orders.
Flipdish’s data shows that the next most popular types of food ordered were Chinese/Thai and pizza, with each receiving 11 per cent of orders over the lockdown period. Margherita was the most popular pizza ordered, with 61,368 added to Irish orders. Egg-fried rice was the most popular dish from Chinese/Thai restaurants, with 22,369 portions ordered.
The top 10 types of food ordered online in Ireland
1 Chipper 26 per cent
2 Chinese/Thai 11 per cent
3 Pizza 11 per cent
4 Restaurant/bar/grill 8 per cent
5 Burgers 4 per cent
6 Indian 3 per cent
7 Sushi 2 per cent
8 Lunch/deli 2 per cent
9 Butcher 1 per cent
10 Greek 1 per cent
Via the Flipdish platform from December 20th, 2020, to April 28th, 2021
The top 10 single items ordered online in Ireland
1 Chips 19 per cent
2 Sauce 15 per cent
3 Burger 15 per cent
4 Pizza 6 per cent
5 Sausage 6 per cent
6 Coca-Cola 5 per cent
7 Kebab 4 per cent
8 Curry 4 per cent
9 Fish 3 per cent
10 Milkshake 3 per cent
Via the Flipdish platform from December 20th, 2020, to April 28th, 2021
Flipdish, which is based in Dublin, says its Irish customers include the Press Up Hospitality Group (which includes Elephant & Castle, Wowburger, Captain America's and the Workman's Club), Eddie Rockets, Wagamama, Café Sol and Bombay Pantry; its technology is used in 15 countries.
It says that enabling customers to order direct from restaurants helps keep their money in the local economy, as the likes of Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats, which take up to 30 per cent of the value of each order, are all headquartered abroad.
