“My specialties include macaroni and cheese and ordering Chinese-food delivery.”
Ad-Rock, Musician
Advantages & Disadvantages of Food Delivery
Food delivery services have become increasingly popular over the past decades.
Instead of going to a restaurant, people often just order online or over the phone and get their favorite food delivered to their homes.
Although food delivery is quite convenient and has many additional advantages, there are also some problems related to this concept.
In this article, the pros and cons of food delivery are examined in detail.
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Contents
Advantages of Food Delivery
- You don’t have to dress up
- Food delivery is quite convenient
- You can eat your favorite food on your favorite spot at home
- Watching your favorite TV show while eating
- Using food delivery can save you time
- No need for a babysitter
- Huge variety of different foods
- Food delivery is good for stressful days
- Good for old people who cannot leave the house anymore
- Suitable for people with disabilities
- You may try many new foods over time
- Ordering food online or on the phone is quite simple
- Less risk to get infected by diseases
- Good for shy people
- Restaurants can win many new customers
You don’t have to dress up
One important advantage of using food delivery services is that you don’t have to dress up when you use them.
If you want to go to a restaurant, there might be a certain dress code that you have to comply with.
Moreover, especially women are often rather insecure and want to look as good as possible when they go to a venue.
However, this often takes quite a lot of time for doing the makeup and dressing.
In turn, it will often take quite a lot of time until you are finally able to leave the house and drive to the restaurant.
With food delivery, you can save all this time and effort since you don’t have to impress anyone and you can just enjoy your food wherever you want in your home.
Food delivery is quite convenient
Many people also consider food delivery services as quite convenient since you get your food delivered right to your front door and you don’t have to do anything other than to push a few buttons online or to catch the phone for a minute.
While you are waiting for your food to get delivered, you can help your kids with doing the homework or with other things you urgently have to do.
Thus, using food delivery can also help you using your time in a more efficient manner, which may give you more leisure in the long run.
You can eat your favorite food on your favorite spot at home
While you are often seated in a restaurant and are often not able to freely choose where you want to sit, you can pick your favorite spot at home when it comes to eating your food.
For instance, if you feel you want to have a different experience today, you might want to eat your food on the balcony and enjoy the silence instead of sitting inside in the kitchen or the living room.
This can be especially nice in summer when temperatures at night are still warm.
Hence, using food delivery also allows you to be quite flexible regarding where you want to eat your food at your home.
Watching your favorite TV show while eating
Some people also really enjoy watching their favorite TV show or other series while sitting on their couch and eating their pizza or other food at the same time.
Some people even make gaming marathons and don’t leave the house for several days.
In such a case, relying on food delivery services is urgently necessary so that people will not starve during their marathon.
Hence, if you are one of those guys who really enjoy watching some sort of series and eating in front of your favorite device, using food delivery services instead of going to a restaurant might be the right way to go for you.
Using food delivery can save you time
In general, using food delivery can also help you save quite a lot of time.
For instance, if you go out to a restaurant, you will often have to drive there for quite a while.
Moreover, once you arrived, you need to find a parking spot.
After you ordered, you will have to wait quite a while until your food is ready. Hence, it will often take a lot of time to go out for dinner to a nice restaurant.
In contrast, you can save plenty of time by relying on a food delivery service instead. Yes, delivery will also take some time.
However, you can use this time in a much more efficient manner since you are at home and can do everything you want or have to do while you are waiting.
For instance, you could do the laundry or do some other things for your household while you are waiting for your food to be delivered.
No need for a babysitter
Using food delivery services also helps you take care of your children by yourself.
If you go out to a restaurant, you have to get a babysitter who takes care of your kids.
If you don’t have any family around and need a stranger, chances are that you will have to pay him or her quite a lot of money in the long run.
Moreover, you don’t know how reliable and trustworthy your babysitter really is and you may not want to leave your kid alone with a person you don’t really know.
Hence, by avoiding going to a restaurant and using food delivery instead, you would no longer need a babysitter anymore since you can just look after your kids yourself.
Huge variety of different foods
Food delivery also enables you to choose from a big variety of different foods.
For instance, big food delivery chains offer you a huge variety of different dishes and depending on your mood, you can choose whatever you want.
In contrast, in case you attend your local restaurant, your food selection may be quite limited and there might also be the chance that some dishes will not be available at the moment.
Therefore, if you really want to make sure that you can choose every dish you want, going for food delivery instead of going out to a restaurant may be better for you.
Food delivery is good for stressful days
Many people in our nowadays society work for quite long hours in a demanding job and do not have too much time for eating.
In fact, in case you leave your office in the late evening, many shops and also some restaurants may be closed and it can be quite convenient to order food from delivery companies instead of attending a restaurant in person.
Especially if you still have some work to do that night, you can just order some food online and work while you are waiting for your food to be delivered to you.
Thus, food delivery may also be an excellent option for stressful days when every minute counts.
Good for old people who cannot leave the house anymore
Another advantage of food delivery is that it can also be quite helpful for the older generation in our society.
Once we get old, our physical and mental fitness often suffers quite a lot and many of us will no longer be able to walk for longer distances or to use a car.
In such a case, food delivery can be a great help since older people can just order over the phone or also over the internet if they know how to do it.
Consequently, also older people will be able to get their favorite food, even though they may no longer be able to attend a restaurant in person.
Suitable for people with disabilities
Also in case you suffer from disabilities, you may no longer be able to leave your home.
In order to get your favorite dishes, you may want to rely on food delivery since this will be the most convenient way to get your food in most cases.
In general, for all people who cannot leave their homes anymore due to several possible health issues, food delivery is a great way for those people to get their favorite foods to their homes.
You may try many new foods over time
Another benefit of food delivery is that you can try many different foods over time.
The selection of different foods is huge online and you have literally thousands of options to choose from.
Over time, you will be able to try many different foods and you will be surprised how good some of those foods will taste.
If you love cooking as I do, you can also get some inspirations for the future from food delivery since you can try to cook those dishes by yourself.
Ordering food online or on the phone is quite simple
Another reason why food delivery services are so popular is that it is so easy to order our food online or over the phone.
You just have to make a few mouse clicks, use your favorite online payment method and you are ready to go.
Most often, it will only take you a few minutes to order your favorite food and you will be ready to go.
Even people who are not familiar with using the internet can simply order on the phone.
Less risk to get infected by diseases
If you attend a restaurant in person, there will be many other people sitting around and the chances to catch the flu or other diseases will often be much higher compared to just staying at home and using food delivery.
Especially for older people, those diseases pose a serious risk and food delivery may be the better way to go.
This is especially true for seasons of the year where the flu or other diseases are quite common.
Good for shy people
Some people also simply do not like to go out to a restaurant.
Instead, they often just want to stay at home since they fear contact with other people.
This may be due to negative experiences from their past or due to several other mental factors.
Hence, if you are one of those shy people who don’t like to leave your house, food delivery will be a great way to stay inside your four walls and still get your favorite food at the same time.
Restaurants can win many new customers
Food delivery is not only a great tool for the general public to get their favorite food without having to go to a restaurant, it can also be a great way for restaurants to expand their customer base.
In fact, since food delivery has become increasingly popular over the past years, restaurants may even be forced to offer food delivery if they want to be able to compete in the fierce food market in the future.
Therefore, food delivery can also give restaurants new business opportunities, which may give them an edge over other restaurants who choose not to participate in this trend.
Disadvantages of Food Delivery Services
- Quality of food may suffer
- Food delivery services are often late
- Food may get cold
- Not the same personal touch as in a restaurant
- Person who delivers food may not be trustworthy
- Food delivery may cost some money
- You may get lazy
- Food delivery may contribute to social isolation
- Some restaurants may become obsolete in the long run
- Hard to manage for smaller restaurants
- Excessive waste production
- Bad for our environment
Quality of food may suffer
Apart from the many upsides of food delivery, there are also some issues related to it.
For instance, one problem with food delivery services is that the quality of delivered food is often worse compared to eating out in a restaurant.
Quite often, food has to be delivered over rather long distances and over time, precious vitamins may be lost.
Moreover, food from delivery services is often also delivered in plastic packaging, which will often not be too appealing for your eyes compared to having food that is nicely placed on your plate in a restaurant.
Food delivery services are often late
Another downside of using food delivery services is that they are often not on time.
If you ask on the phone when your food will be delivered, you can often add a couple of minutes on the time food deliveries tell you.
In some cases, you might even have to wait for a quite long time and this can be quite annoying, especially if you are very hungry and urgently wait for your meal.
Food may get cold
Due to the long delivery distances, your food may also get cold once it is finally delivered to your home.
You may have to reheat it or even have to eat it cold.
This is especially true in case you order at rush hour since the streets are often quite crowded and delivery cars often get stuck in traffic.
Hence, you may want to choose to order your food before or after rush hour is over in order to get it as hot as possible.
Not the same personal touch as in a restaurant
In some restaurants, there is also a quite nice atmosphere which you will miss out if you just order your food to your home.
For instance, if you spend your evening in a nice Greek restaurant, you will often feel like you are really in Greece since the decoration and the whole atmosphere will be in line with the Greek lifestyle.
If you just order food to your home, you will miss out on all of this.
Moreover, from time to time, it will also be quite nice if you take your spouse out for dinner to a nice restaurant in order to spend a nice evening.
Person who delivers food may not be trustworthy
Depending on where you live, using food delivery may also not be too safe.
While it is not problematic to use food delivery services in most regions, there may be areas where it is not safe to use those services.
In fact, some food delivery people may not be trustworthy and there had even been cases where people got robbed.
Hence, if you also heard from those incidents in your area, you may want to refrain from using food delivery services.
Food delivery may cost some money
Another disadvantage of food delivery is that it can cost some money to use those services.
While food delivery will be free in most countries if you order for a certain minimum amount of money, you may have to pay for delivery if you just order food for a few bucks.
Hence, make sure to check out if delivery is free at your favorite delivery service in order to save money.
You may get lazy
Since people do no longer have to leave their homes, food delivery may also lead to a state where people get lazy.
If you just spend your time on your couch after work on a regular basis and don’t go out anymore, chances are that you will not only get lazy, but that you also gain weight since a certain level of exercising is necessary to keep us fit and healthy in the long run.
Food delivery may contribute to social isolation
People who rely on food delivery services too much may also get socially isolated in the long run.
For instance, imagine you order from your favorite food company every day and do no longer attend restaurants or other venues anymore.
Chances are that you will lose many of your social connections over time and in the long run, there will be no social connections left at all.
Thus, make sure to have at least some time out in your life in order to avoid becoming socially isolated.
Some restaurants may become obsolete in the long run
Food delivery not only implies some problems for customers, it can also lead to problems for local restaurants who don’t want to engage in food delivery.
Our world is changing on a continuous basis and restaurants who don’t adapt to the changing preferences of consumers will go out of business sooner or later.
Therefore, many restaurants who don’t want to offer food delivery will no longer be able to compete in the future.
Hard to manage for smaller restaurants
For smaller restaurants, it might also simply not be feasible to offer food delivery.
Those restaurants are often family businesses and every family member has to work in the restaurant in order to make the business work.
There will simply often be no manpower left to also offer food delivery in a cost-efficient manner.
Excessive waste production
Another problem with food delivery is that using those delivery services also implies the excessive production of unnecessary waste.
Food is often packaged in plenty of plastic, which is disposed into the garbage can after just a single use.
Plastic waste is a big environmental problem and by using food delivery services, you make this problem even worse.
Hence, also from a waste production perspective, you should avoid using food delivery and go for other options instead.
Bad for our environment
In general, using food delivery services can also be regarded to be quite bad for our planet.
Apart from excessive waste production, food delivery often also implies the use of food delivery cars which emit significant amounts of harmful gases into our atmosphere.
This not only leads to air pollution, it also speeds up global warming.
Therefore, if you want to make a positive contribution to our environment, you should rather cook at home instead of using food delivery on a regular basis.
Top 10 Food Delivery Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Food Delivery Pros | Food Delivery Cons |
|---|---|
| Food delivery is quite convenient | Excessive waste production |
| You do not have to dress up | Food delivery is not always free |
| You can lie on the couch while eating | Often lower food quality |
| Using food delivery is good for lazy people | Food may get cold |
| Good for shy people | Food delivery can take a quite long time |
| Can save you time | May contribute to social isolation |
| Especially good for stressful days | Special feeling of restaurants is missing |
| Good for the older generation | People who deliver food may not be trustworthy |
| Helpful for people who can’t cook | Some restaurants may go out of business |
| Lower risks for diseases | Bad for our environment |
Should You Use Food Delivery Services?
From the previous analysis, it becomes clear that there are many advantages and disadvantages of using food delivery services.
In my opinion, while it might be ok to order food from time to time, you should not rely on it on a daily basis.
Instead, eat out in restaurants from time to time.
You can also cook your own dishes at home.
If you want more information on the topic of cooking, check out all the advantages and disadvantages of cooking at home.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_delivery
https://www.t3.com/news/best-food-delivery-services-in-the-us
https://urbantastebud.com/best-food-delivery-service-apps/
About the author
My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.
As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.
After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.
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