March the 21st, 2021 - Croatian food delivery during the pandemic reached new heights as the majority of people were working from home, not working at all, or just fancied a taste of the food from beloved restaurants which at that time had only deliveries as a way of remaining operational.
Wolt, Glovo, Pauza and other perfectly square shaped bags attached to people hurrying along on bikes or motorcycles has become the norm in cities such as Zagreb, but just how much food have we in Croatia been ordering since the pandemic struck?
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes, while most people were busy wearing only half an outfit for their zoom meetings as they worked from home, others worked out there in the field more intensively than ever, making sure that everyone who was at home could still get their hands on some of their favourite foods, even if some were coronavirus patients who likely couldn't even taste it.
One year ago, Croatian food delivery services became a much needed part of life as the "new normal" took hold, into which we were drawn by the pandemic, and in that sense the likes of Glovo proved to be a reliable partner for many Croatian residents ordering food, medicine, or other items.
"Croatian food deliveries using the Glovo application have increased by more than 300 percent since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic here in Croatia when compared to the time before the pandemic hit", they stated from Glovo, revealing what was most ordered and where.
Pauza, Wolt and others are also heavily present in various Croatian cities, and Glovo for example is present across eleven cities (Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek, Zadar, Sisak, Pula, Karlovac, Velika Gorica, Varazdin and Slavonski Brod). Data from the analysis of orders indicate that people's purchasing preferences have changed considerably because habits themselves have altered.
The differences by cities also speak about the cultural peculiarities of their inhabitants during the pandemic.
"Users in Zagreb ate twice as many carrots as those in Split did, but in Split, it seems, fresh cucumber salad was more popular than carrots were. Despite the disagreement in the preferences related to salads, both the citizens of Zagreb and the people of Split agreed on one thing - the inhabitants of both cities love beer very much,'' Glovo stated humourously.
Burgers which have been an absolute hit at various streetfood festivals over recent years, with the temporary disappearance of mass gatherings of people, have also quickly had to move online - so many have been ordered in the past 12 months that, stacked side by side, they would be as long as the entire Adriatic Highway, meaning that burgers were frequent ''riders'' in the bags of Croatian food delivery services.
Not only that, all of the Pizzas bought through Glovo in Croatia would form, if stacked, a tower as tall as 36 Zagreb cathedrals (with or without the cross which destroyed back in the earthquake last year).
"Glovo users ate 1,500 kilograms more oranges during the pandemic than they did before, and one of the most sought-after terms in the app at the beginning of the lockdown was - yeast, whose order and sales volumes were so high that more than 5000 loaves of bread could have been baked from it!'' they pointed out from this Croatian food delivery app.
In addition to food and drink, flowers were ordered thousands of times throughout the year as the opportunity to deliver them to loved ones and put a little smile on their faces during these dark times always seemed to be attractive.
For more on Croatian food delivery services/apps, eating and shopping in Croatia, follow our lifestyle page.
