Grubhub has released its annual end-of-year report on the food trends of American consumers, analyzing orders placed throughout 2024.
Chicken was the top protein of 2024, espresso orders spiked in the summer and hot honey was a popular pick at the grocery store this year, the report noted.
The data breaks down orders made to businesses such as restaurants, grocery stores and convenience stores and delivered to customers at home, work, college campuses and hotel rooms, among other places.
The new report “highlighted the undeniable influence of social media and pop culture on the foods we crave and order,” Grubhub spokesperson Christoppher Krautler told Fox News Digital.
Protein is popular
Protein was popular in 2024 – and chicken led the way.
Chicken was included in nearly 40% of all Grubhub restaurant orders, and poultry was part of Grubhub grocery store orders almost three times as often as beef.
Extra protein was also a welcome addition to Chipotle restaurant orders.
The Grubhub report revealed that 15% of all Chipotle orders included double protein.
Chipotle was also a popular pick for work lunch orders this year.
Chipotle’s burrito bowls spiked by 27% among corporate orders, according to Grubhub.
That’s a lot of cottage cheese
Grubhub also delivered over a ton of cottage cheese to customers in 2024.
That equates to about 2,000 pounds of curd.
“The months with the highest volume of cottage cheese orders were July (17%), August (21%), September (20%) and October (16%),” Krautler said.
“Together, these four months accounted for nearly 75% of all cottage cheese orders for the year.”
June was the first month with a noticeable spike in demand, Krautler said – around the time that people started baking cottage cheese in the oven as part of a social media trend.
Customers in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston ordered the most cottage cheese this year.
America loves coffee
Americans appeared to have plenty of love for espresso this year.
Grubhub said espresso orders spiked the week of June 22, which coincided with the popularity of Sabrina Carpenter’s song.
“Espresso” cracked the top three on Billboard’s Hot 100 that same week and eventually surged to No. 1 on the pop charts.
Grubhub said customers were thirstier for espresso shots this year compared to 2023.
Miami was the top city for espresso orders from Grubhub, followed by Los Angeles, Denver, Boston and New York City.
Grubhub also saw a 53% increase in corporate coffee orders this year.
Pace University in New York, West Chester University in Pennsylvania, Syracuse University, the University of Rochester and Rowan University in New Jersey were the college campuses with the most Grubhub orders for coffee in 2024.
When it came to decaffeinated coffee orders, Fordham University in New York led all college campuses.
Rounding out the top five were California State University Fullerton, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the University of Illinois Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Students seemed to major in caffeine this year, with February having the most energy drink orders among all college campuses – up nearly a third compared to other months.
Dr. Pepper led the way
The most popular convenience store orders from Grubhub this year were hot dogs, bananas and sodas, the report revealed.
When it comes to convenience store soft drinks, Dr. Pepper led the way, topping runner-up Coca-Cola and Diet Coke among Grubhub orders.
Dr. Pepper was the “clear” soft drink leader, Krautler said.
“Its unexpected viral twist – added pickles – captured customers’ attention and gave this iconic drink a fun, new spin,” he added.
Sweet-and-spicy foods surged
Hot honey purchases at grocery stores surged by 30% this year among Grubhub orders, the research revealed.
It’s indicative of the sweet-and-spicy food trend that swept the nation this year. Nearly 10% of restaurant menus have sweet-and-spicy offerings in 2024, according to market research firm Datassential.
The New Jersey-based Food Institute said this past summer was the season of “swicy” – a portmanteau of sweet and spicy.
“We notice that Grubhub customers are always craving and experimenting with unique flavor combinations that excite and surprise their taste buds,” Krautler told Fox News Digital.
“This year, swicy – a fusion of sweet and heat – emerged as a standout trend, gaining popularity for its multidimensional appeal.”
‘Dining in’ dominates
Many travelers elected to dine in from their hotel rooms rather than eat out this year, according to Grubhub.
Chicago, New York City and Washington, D.C., were also popular travel destinations for Grubhub customers who opted to bring the booze to their hotel rooms.
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