Filipinos bought cake online for many reasons from comfort food to congratulating themselves for still being alive.
These were expressed online following a study that showed Filipinos purchased cakes via Grab Philippines 2.6 more times in 2020 compared to the previous year.
The food delivery app released its first Philippine Food Trends Report for 2020-2021 on Thursday, August 27 where it showed insights into the Filipino food landscape during the still raging coronavirus pandemic.
In the report titled “Grab NEXT: Food Trends Report”, cake was also among the top three meals that Filipinos could not make at home. The top three are:
- Pizza (70%)
- Cake (56%)
- Pasta (33%)
Pizza, in particular, was served a staggering six million times on GrabFood in 2020.
In a virtual briefing about the release of this study, Grab Philippines Country Head Grace Vera Cruz said: “Filipinos love their cake.”
Data for this report were gathered through comprehensive interviews conducted by Nielsen IQ. Involved respondents were key stakeholder groups including food industry professionals, focus groups, restauranteurs and consumer surveys.
When the findings circulated online, Filipinos shared theories on why they love cakes.
Some social media users were more sentimental, saying it’s best to have cakes while they still can during the health crisis.
“With the uncertainty of the times and how the pandemic is going coupled with the failed gov’t response, most are celebrating their birthdays thinking it might be their last,” one user said.
“Because life is a celebration,” another user said.
One Facebook user observed that having cake for oneself is a form of self-love.
“If we’re gonna be stuck at home because the government has no good plan about the pandemic, the least we can do is get ourselves cake,” the user commented.
Other users took the wittier route and quipped that small-time cake sellers might be taxed because of the report.
“Ingat sa pagbabalita, baka matax ang cake sellers na nananahimik hahahaha,” one user said.
“Wag kayo ganyan, pag nakitang mabenta yan ng BIR baka taasan ung tax,” another user said.
Last year, the Bureau of Internal Revenue came under fire over its memorandum that seeks to tax online sellers.
Social media users slammed the bureau, saying that most Filipinos turned to digital platforms to earn money following the loss of income during the start of the pandemic.
READ: Issue on POGOs’ P50-B unpaid dues resurface as BIR turns to online sellers for tax
Other details in Grab’s food report
In the report, Grab found that Filipinos search for and ordered different types of food more frequently since last year.
The top 10 food categories searched on GrabFood are:
- Fast food
- Pizza
- Cake
- Bakery
- Chinese food
- Doughnuts
- Milk tea
- Burgers
- Coffee
- Chicken
While most of these are unhealthy, the study showed that three of four Filipinos actually wanted to order healthier food.
Of these, 60% are willing to pay more for healthier meals.
The report attributed the surge in the need for food delivery was due to COVID-19.
“With restriction measures in place, more people turned to food delivery as a way of sorting out their meals. On GrabFood alone, the number of monthly active users in the Philippines doubled in 2020 compared to 2019,” they said.
