Popularity of Meat Alternatives on Grubhub Spikes by 463 Percent in 2020

Plant-based meat alternatives have spiked in popularity by 463 percent in 2020 on delivery platform Grubhub according to its new “Year in Food” trend report. The delivery platform analyzed 30 million orders. Grubhub notes that while vegan and vegetarian trends have slowed in 2020 (growing by 13 percent this year as opposed to 27 percent in 2019), the popularity of meat alternatives on the platform is soaring. In November alone, the platform reported a 222 percent increase in orders for Impossible Cheeseburgers. When it came to which states placed the most vegan orders, New York, California, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Illinois took the top five spots. When compared to last year, specific vegan dishes gained popularity on the platform with orders of tofu spring rolls (263 percent increase), plant-based burgers (251 percent increase), black bean tacos (242 percent increase), vegan chocolate cakes (211 percent), and vegan ramen (183 percent), all gaining the most traction. The single biggest order on Grubhub in 2020 was for 300 bean burritos.

Vegan burgers for all

This year’s data builds on Grubhub’s “State of the Plate” report for the first half of 2019, which named the Impossible Burger its most popular late-night order, with vegan orders increasing by 25 percent and orders of Impossible Burgers up by 82 percent during the analysis period. Other delivery platforms have reported similar trends. In its “DoorDash Deep Dish” report released this August, DoorDash reported that vegan burgers increased by 433 percent in the six-month period from January 2020 to the end of June 2020.