The UK’s leading office food delivery marketplace, Just Eat for Business, has today revealed the leading foods and eating habits that have dominated offices this year.
Mediterranean cuisine jumped to top spot this year as the most popular lunchtime option, closely followed by American cuisine. Classic lunchtime options made a comeback this year, with soup orders having increased by 52%, wraps by 45% and sandwich orders by 32%. And it was on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays that they ate them – almost three quarters (72%) of orders were placed midweek, pointing to mid-week in-office working patterns.
The reason? Workers continued to enjoy the communal culture that workplace lunches brought to their day. Pop-ups increased by 40% – a chance to convene and spend quality time with colleagues over a new and exciting lunch.
Let’s dive into more of this year’s tasty workplace food trends…
- East vs. West: East London reigned as the region with the hungriest workers. Two in five orders (42%) were made by East London workers in the likes of the City and Canary Wharf.
- Trust the crust: Workers’ love of pizza was truly unstoppable this year with 94,676 slices consumed. That’s a 17% increase from last year’s 80,000. With Pizza Express going live on the platform this month, 2024 is set to be the year powered by pizza.
- Meatless meals: New data revealed that British workers increasingly seeked out meat-free lunches to power them through the working day. Vegetarian orders from Just Eat for Business increased by 10% from 2022.
- Eat your greens: Salad orders increased by 12% this year – a sign of workers opting for healthy alternatives.
Matt Ephgrave, MD at Just Eat for Business: “This year’s order data confirms that food remains a valuable tool within the workplace to encourage collaboration, create meaningful connections and offer a chance to try new and exciting dishes. It’s great to see London workers’ love of variety remain, with orders spanning 35 different world cuisines on our platform in the past year, and I can’t wait to see what 2024 brings.”
Just Eat for Business offers a range of lunchtime options for teams, with restaurant partners including Pasta Evangelists, Wahaca and Yo! Sushi. These partners, amongst others, are available for order on Just Eat for Business.