Online food delivery is changing the way Kiwis eat

Consider yourself a pro at ordering your food online? What you order says a lot about your lifestyle habits – or at least that's what a report from online food delivery service Menulog says.

Kiwis love their takeaways – New Zealand is one of the fastest-growing takeaway markets in the world. And we're up to all sorts of trickery.

More than 30,000 people have passed off takeaways as their own cooking – and men are almost twice as likely to be the culprit (17% men vs 9% women).

Behind the scenes, the report also shows that tech is one of the driving forces of this meal choice evolution.

Menulog New Zealand manager Paul Dodds says digital advancements are driving ordering habits, coupled with consumer demand for convenience and choice.

"Technology makes it easy and convenient for people to order food online. It means there is now a huge variety of cuisine being delivered to people's doors. We're also seeing people's dining habits change as the range of cuisine continues to grow - and that is great for both consumers and local restaurants.

We may love our tech and how it's changing what we eat, but family remains at the heart of dinner time. Just think how food is an essential ingredient for social occasions.

"There's nothing like food to bring people together with almost half of Kiwis saying they order food when spending quality time with friends and family," Dodds says.

Why are we ordering takeaways so much? For many of us, it's about blobbing on the couch. 73% of people said their top reason for ordering was to watch a movie/TV, with just over a third watching a streaming service, almost a quarter watching sport, and 14% of people say they order food for a romantic night in.

Even Valentines Day resulted in a 33%increase in orders, the second highest spike of the year apart from the day before ANZAC Day in New Zealand.

More than half of Kiwis bring their leftovers to work the next day, one in ten give it to their pet, and 9% freeze takeaways to eat at a later date.

The report also says that millennials are more likely to order food from the toilet compared to baby boomers, and 80% of millennials have cancelled dinner plans just to order takeaways.

The most common excuse for ditching plans to stay in is "chucking a social sickie" or saying they feel unwell or sick (28%).