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<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.<\/p>\n<p><strong>J<\/strong><strong>EREMY MAGGS:<\/strong> This is an interesting one. Uber Eats\u2019 2025 South Africa Cravings Report really reads like a food survey more than a social barometer.<\/p>\n<p>It shows fried chicken still dominating every city. No real surprises there. Grocery deliveries surging by 66%, and so-called \u201csuper users\u201d placing thousands of orders a year. But I think behind the quirky stats that we\u2019re about to discuss, there are bigger questions about consumer behaviour, convenience, economics, digital etiquette, and the realities of gig work.<\/p>\n<p>Read: Uber\u2019s gig workers now include coders for hire on AI projects [Nov 2024]<\/p>\n<p>In that respect, from Uber Eats, I\u2019m joined by Cassie Jaganyi. Cassie, a very warm welcome to you. Let\u2019s start with fried chicken, if we can. Tops every city. No real surprises there. I\u2019m wondering if it\u2019s a resilience in local food culture, or maybe just a signal of stretched household budgets. What do you think it is?<\/p>\n<p><strong>CASSIE JAGANYI: <\/strong>Yeah, we\u2019re seeing across the report and quite unanimously across the country, a deep love for fried chicken, accompanied with, I think it\u2019s important to call it out, accompanied with pap. It is the most requested side alongside that fried chicken. I think to answer your question on what it speaks to, honestly, I think that there\u2019s an element where it speaks to both.<\/p>\n<p>A large part of what we track is seasonality. We see different orders coming through depending on if it\u2019s the time of year or whether it is even the time of the month.<\/p>\n<p>Closer to the end of the month when the salary is a little bit more stretched, we see orders shifting more towards grocery items and maybe your cheaper, faster food items.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>In the beginning [of the month], when you know the money is fresh, a little bit more splurging happening.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I really think it\u2019s a testament to both the love for chicken, but also maybe, trying to make the rands go further.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JEREMY MAGGS: <\/strong>What do you think is behind that big jump in grocery delivery?<\/p>\n<p><strong>CASSIE JAGANYI: <\/strong>Well, actually, Jeremy, a couple of years ago we launched an economic impact report and one of the key data points that came out of that was that the Uber Eats app is saving consumers more than 12.7 million hours by delivering meals and groceries directly to the door. What we\u2019re seeing is a real push and a real acceleration in the convenience culture trend.<\/p>\n<div class=\"visible-sm-block visible-xs-block m1010\">\n<div class=\"ad-container-wrapper\">\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>That 12.7 million hours saved is time back in your pocket, which is something I think people find incredibly valuable.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s time to spend time with your family, with your kids, on your hobbies and not have to worry about making a run to a grocery store and so on. So really a very big uptick in convenience culture and spending on convenience.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JEREMY MAGGS: <\/strong>Cassie, on a more negative side, one user, if I read this number correctly, placing nearly 2 800 orders, and that surely raises flags. Do you track the point where convenience turns into overreliance? Because that is really off the charts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CASSIE JAGANYI: <\/strong>It\u2019s not necessarily something that we\u2019re tracking directly, but I do think, again, it comes back to the sense of convenience.<\/p>\n<p>Businesses are ordering Uber Eats to the office to feed employees, different party groups, if you\u2019ve got friends over and you\u2019re ordering for a number of different people, that is also one of the things that could be driving that increase, that spike in the number of orders for this individual.<\/p>\n<p>Read: The precarious lives of supermarket grocery delivery drivers [Jul 2023]<\/p>\n<p>But again, I think it really come back to the sense that this is taking away the thought process for someone, and the thought energy required around food and what\u2019s needed. Again, it speaks to that convenience culture and how more and more people are tapping into that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JEREMY MAGGS: <\/strong>You don\u2019t think 2 800 orders from one person is of any concern at all?<\/p>\n<p><strong>CASSIE JAGANYI: <\/strong>I think, like I said before, it could be an office that\u2019s placing the order for many people, it might not be just for one person, it maybe came from one account. I think it requires maybe a little bit more of a deep dive, but there are a number of reasons why an order could have looked like that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JEREMY MAGGS: <\/strong>What do you make of Cape Town\u2019s late-night ordering increasing so dramatically? Do you think it\u2019s lifestyle choice, or people maybe just working and living on more non-traditional schedules?<\/p>\n<p><strong>CASSIE JAGANYI: <\/strong>Yeah, just [from] the data, we saw that there was an increase where Cape Town is the one city across South Africa that\u2019s ordering double as much for late-night orders, and late night being between 11 and about two or three in the morning.<\/p>\n<p>Listen\/read: No clear winner: Inside SA\u2019s fast-food search trends<\/p>\n<div class=\"visible-sm-block visible-xs-block m1010\">\n<div class=\"ad-container-wrapper\">\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n<p>CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>I do think that it\u2019s tapping into an economy and into a market that was previously underserved because restaurants are closed, grocery stores are closed, and if you\u2019re someone who is working the night shift, if you\u2019re someone who\u2019s maybe gone out for the evening with some friends to have a good time, we\u2019re able to tap into an existing market.<\/p>\n<p>That market was always there, but now we\u2019re able to supply and give them an offering. Cape Town seems to be the one driving that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JEREMY MAGGS: <\/strong>There\u2019s a boast that you make about a 48-second delivery, which obviously grabs headlines, Cassie, but how do you balance speed with safety and fair working conditions?<\/p>\n<p><strong>CASSIE JAGANYI: <\/strong>I think that\u2019s an excellent question. Our couriers are the backbone of our business. Our business does not exist without them and I think from us to them, it\u2019s definitely a huge thank you.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>But we have a number of different safeguards that are in place for couriers to ensure that they\u2019re driving safely and that they\u2019re getting your order to you in a way that is safe.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s a number of different things. Number one is driver hour limits. They\u2019re only allowed to drive a set number of hours per day before we mandate that they take a rest.<\/p>\n<p>Other safety requirements are, we\u2019re tracking things like speed, we\u2019re tracking things like the use of a helmet, the use of a safety jacket and the necessary PPE (personal protective equipment) as well, to ensure that couriers are safe while they\u2019re executing these trips.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JEREMY MAGGS: <\/strong>But only 2.3% of Johannesburgers, for instance, our orders include a please or a thank you, you say. Do you think anonymity changes the way in which how we treat people doing that work?<\/p>\n<p><strong>CASSIE JAGANYI: <\/strong>Yeah, I think that this is a comment maybe more on society in general, with the uptick of things like social media and you being able to be anonymous on social media, people are bolder in what they have to say.<\/p>\n<p>Read: Gig economy emerges as a bright spot amid gloomy tech earnings [Aug 2024]<\/p>\n<p>But I think what our data is showing as well is that even within the anonymity, there are cities that are still incredibly grateful, that are tipping more, that are acknowledging the work of their couriers. Joburg, Pretoria, Durban and Margate specifically topping that list. So a huge thanks to them for sharing their gratitude.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JEREMY MAGGS: <\/strong>Cassie Jaganyi, thank you very much indeed from Uber Eats. I do appreciate the time.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Moneyweb\u2019s in-depth finance and business news on WhatsApp here.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\">\n !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n 'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n fbq('init', '779812924991616');\n fbq('track', 'PageView');\n <\/script>#Fried #chicken #groceries #late #nights #SAs #Uber #Eats #trends<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You can also listen to this po… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[3742,3745,3741,3743,3744,1644,363,3746,1342],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}