Deliveroo SG ranks top 3 national dishes as part of National Day stunt

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In commemoration of Singapore's National Day, food delivery service Deliveroo dug into its data from last year's stay home National Day celebrations to answer the age-old question: "What is Singapore's national dish?". Seafood dishes topped last year's list, with chilli crab in particular "dominating the scene". According to Deliveroo, one of the largest food orders during last year’s National Day was a chilli crab order worth over SG$400.

Coming in at a close second and third are comfort food, such as fried chicken as well as local delights, including nasi ayam penyet (smashed chicken rice) and wonton (dumpling) noodles. Staying home also saw many families opting for healthier options, said Deliveroo, adding that SaladStop! saw enough orders snapped up over last year’s National Day weekend "to feed an entire HDB block".

Deliveroo’s spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that it wanted to give its loyal customers a treat during this year's National Day, seeing an increase in orders during previous years’ National Day period as customers order in their favourite food, particularly local cuisines such as seafood, to commemorate the special occasion.

The spokesperson added that Deliveroo wanted to support its restaurant partners to generate additional revenue with delivery amid the dine-in ban during Singapore's Phase Two (Heightened Alert). Therefore, it has refocused its marketing initiatives to “profile local restaurants and highlight delivery as 'open for business' to encourage consumers to support their local restaurants”.

Based on last year’s popular choices, Deliveroo also compiled a selection of shiok National Day deals to order in for feasting with family and friends at home during Singapore’s Phase Two (Heightened Alert). The food delivery company is offering a SG$1 delivery fee for all grocery orders throughout the month of August, as well as for orders from close to 300 participating restaurants from now until 15 August. To encourage customers to show support for local businesses, Deliveroo is offering free delivery for close to 1,500 small and medium-sized businesses including Qi Ji and Old Chang Kee.

The key outcomes expected for the campaign include increased brand love and top-of-mind-awareness for Deliveroo, increased brand awareness of Deliveroo’s restaurant partners as well as encouraging Singaporeans to support their favourite restaurants during the dine-in ban, and earned media share of voice.

“Our business is based on supporting restaurant partners both big and small, and we are always looking for new ways to stay connected with our customers in a fun, positive, and uplifting way,” said the spokesperson, adding that Deliveroo will be working with restaurant partners on various upcoming campaigns.

Deliveroo has also previously collaborated with sushi brand WOOSHI during the June holidays to create the "Deliveroo and WOOSHI’s limited edition DIY sushi making family kit". With the kit, families were able to create tasty, nutritious rolls in the comfort of their kitchen. The spokesperson added that more initiatives will come in the coming months.

Deliveroo is not the first to have compiled a list of national dishes. Foodpanda conducted a similar survey back in 2019 for Singapore's 54th National Day, digging into its data and counted each order as a vote to crown Singapore’s "true national dish". A primarily OOH-driven campaign, foodpanda also amplified this campaign through radio buys as well as created a social component in-house to turn it into a 360 campaign.

Meanwhile, Deliveroo's National Day initiative is also in line with its support for local F&B businesses. Last August, Deliveroo launched a foodie walking tour, aimed to encourage Singaporeans to revisit their favourite restaurants. This came as the Department of Statistics Singapore reported a 43.5% drop in F&B sales in June 2020 compared to June 2019. Participants of the walking tours could choose from a choice of two itineraries: the Healthy Food Crawl or the Teatime Delights Tour. Participants were also able to learn some tricks of the trade from chefs and restaurant insiders they visited.

Separately, Deliveroo's Hong Kong counterpart also conducted a survey earlier this year in January and forecasted the top five dining trends for 2021. Using mobile data as well as an internal survey, Deliveroo HK also found that 29% of Hongkongers order delivery simply because they cannot make their favourite dishes at home, while 24% simply do it to avoid washing dishes. When it comes to finding inspiration for their next meal, 50% of millennials and Gen X credit Facebook. As for Gen Z, 39% say it's all about Instagram.

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