Uber Eats has just reached an extraordinary milestone – having made one billion UK deliveries. Reaching a billion in less than a decade reflects the nation’s passion for food – from fish and chips to pho, Uber Eats deliveries have proved to be a winner with hungry Brits.
Uber Eats has revolutionised how the UK and Ireland enjoy food, delivering delicious meals and groceries to households across the country. Since launching in 2016, one billion deliveries have now taken place and 90% of the population in the UK can place orders from the app.
The landmark billionth delivery was made by a seasoned Uber Eats courier in Birmingham. Meanwhile, the Eats customer unknowingly made history with their Friday night order of Cod and Chips with a battered sausage from College Fish Bar, a local takeaway institution.
To mark the occasion, Uber Eats will be offering the customer an incredible prize for being the billionth orderer —£5,344 in Uber Eats credit, equivalent to a year’s worth of takeaways and groceries based on the average UK household spending. The courier is also being offered a free year of Zenion rental for an e-scooter or e-bike which includes insurance and maintenance for 12 months.
Coinciding with the billionth delivery taking place, Uber Eats is also revealing order insights from the past 9 years, including insights into the UK’s evolving takeaway habits and top trends.
Takeaway Habits
Charting the changing tastes of the nation, Uber Eats is revealing insights into the UK and Ireland’s takeaway culture. Looking at the go-to favourites from its UKI independent restaurant portfolio, Chicken definitely came before the egg with 4 out of five of the most popular dishes featuring the poultry item. A half chicken from Manjaros has taken the crown as the UK’s most popular dish from a local high street restaurant, closely followed by 6 piece Chicken Wings from Wngz, showcasing Brits’ love for comfort food and flavour.
The UK’s most five ordered items on Uber Eats from high street independent restaurants:
1. Half Chicken, from Manjaros
2. 6 Piece Chicken Wings, from Wngz
3. Roti Chicken, from Roti King
4. Sweet & Sour Hong Kong Style, from Fortune Cat
5. Char Kuey Teow, from Roti King
In addition to working with amazing family-owned and small businesses across the UK, Uber Eats also partners with some of the most popular restaurant brands, including Mcdonalds, KFC, Greggs, Five Guys, Taco Bell, Tortilla, Popeyes, Honest Burgers, Starbucks and Pizza Express. With the most popular ordered item in 2024 being the tasty Double Cheeseburger from Mcdonald’s.
Throughout the last nine years, grocery deliveries and convenience have become increasingly embedded in daily life. Uber Eats revealed that milk is the most popular grocery item to order on the app, closely followed by bananas, water and cucumbers, revealing the UK’s preference for using Uber Eats to help with a quick top-up shop when essentials are running low. Going beyond typical grocery food items, the appetite for deliveries for on-demand household staples continues to grow, with emergency tissue roll, kitchen towels and kitchen foil the top retail items ordered on the app.
Uber Eats is also unveiling a list of dishes from across the UK and Ireland which it predicts will become some of this year’s hottest and fastest-growing items for delivery of the year.
Uber Eats: 25 Hottest Bites for 2025
- Pad Thai From Rosa’s Thai
- Chicken Gyro from Going Greek
- Shack Burger from Shack Shack
- Chilli Chicken Ramen from Tonkotsu
- Curry Goat Pon Fries from Natty’s Jerk
- Double Down Burger from KFC
- Cadillac from Detroit Pizza
- The Hogless Roast Burger from Hogless Roast
- Prawn & Pork Spicy Wonton From Din Tai Fung
- Sunny Salmon From Poke House
- DOUBLE SMASHED Burger from Honest Burger
- Kung Pao Chicken Sando from Coqfighter
- Barbacoa (Beef) Bowl from Tortilla
- Chicken Kyiv Sandwich from Sandwich Sandwich
- BBQ Beef Brisket Sandwich from Grandad needs his Medicine
- Breakfast Bao from Pablo Eggsgobao
- Footlong Cookie from Subway
- Carbonara from Pasta Evangelists
- Cinnamon Social Slice from Ole & Steen
- Health & Happiness from Itsu
- Nutella, Crust-bonara from Crust Bros
- Masala Dosa from Tamila
- Salt and Chilli Chicken Box from Salt and Chilli Oriental
- Pan Fried Pork Soup Dumplings from Dumpling Shack
- Barbecue Box from Low & Slow Barbecue
Matthew Price Regional General Manager, Uber Eats, UKI & Northern Europe, said: “Reaching our one billionth delivery in the UK and Ireland is a huge milestone, made possible by the hundreds of thousands of couriers and over 70,000 restaurants we partner with—many of them small businesses. In fact, SMEs make up more than half of our restaurant partners across the country, and we’re proud to help them grow by connecting them with new and loyal customers every day. As we look ahead to the next billion orders, we’re excited to continue supporting local businesses, expanding our offerings beyond food delivery, and making sustainable choices more accessible to our restaurant partners and customers alike.”
Sukhvinder Dhillon from College Fish Bar in Birmingham said: “We’re sending out loads of orders every day of the week, but a billion deliveries? That’s still hard to wrap our heads around! It’s amazing to see how much food delivery has grown in just a few years. Uber Eats has been a huge support for our business—especially during tough times like COVID—and we’re truly grateful to work with them.”
The Road To One Billion Deliveries
2016: Launch: Uber Eats launched in London in June 2016 with 150 restaurant partners. Uber Eats first-ever delivery was made on June 12, 2016, at 11.31 am from Snaps & Rye Restaurant, where the customer ordered grilled salmon with a potato salad, arriving in just 26 minutes.
2017: Expansion: Uber Eats expanded to several UK cities including Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham and began to work with McDonald’s. The most popular time to order on Uber Eats depends on where you are in the country. Those in Brighton love to order dinner at 18.54 whereas Londoner’s peak ordering happens 50 minutes later at 19.44.
2018: Ireland: Uber Eats launched in Ireland and also entered smaller UK towns, making itself available for suburban households for the first time. Today, ordering on Uber Eats is available to 90% of the UK population.
2019: Strengthening Restaurant Partnerships: Uber Eats began working with a variety of chain restaurants including KFC, Subway and Pepe’s Piri Piri while introducing new product features including pre-ordering and scheduled deliveries The hottest orders of 2019 included KFC’s tasty 2 Hot Wings, Subway’s irresistible 3 cookie pack, and Pepe’s Piri Piri classic chicken and rice dish.
2020: Surge During The Pandemic: Uber Eats couriers were frontline workers during the COVID pandemic, bringing food and essential items from new grocery partners to customers while in lockdown. Uber Eats introduced contactless deliveries for customer and courier safety. With grocery delivery offering household staples on demand, bananas were the go-to item that continued to fly off the shelves throughout lockdown.
2021: Spotlighting Small Business: Uber Eats launches Black Business Fund to help recognise challenges facing black entrepreneurs in gaining access to investment opportunities. UK and Ireland Restaurant Awards recruit Prue Leith to join a panel of judges helping to find the best takeaway in the UK. Since the launch, a grand total of 131 small to medium-sized businesses have received grants or prizes from the Restaurant Awards and Black Business Fund, showing Uber Eat’s continued support to its independent restaurant partners.
2022: Uber One: A new membership platform launches, bringing together discounts and rewards for people who go places and eat food on Uber and Uber Eats, which attracted over a million members in the UK in its first year. Uber One now boasts 30 million members across the globe!
2023: Sustainability: Uber commits to the goal of shifting to sustainable packaging by 2030, and zero emissions globally by 2040. Uber launched its green packaging initiative with Alma’s Cafe, What the Pitta, Tofu Vegan and Taqi’s Grill
2024: Selection: Uber Eats strengthens its selection offering across its SMB portfolio, with customers able to choose from over 70,000 local small businesses. Uber Eats also launched Hosts, a new platform that partnered with some of the country’s most premium restaurants including Ynyshir, Ikoyi and Simon Rogan
2025: One Billion: College Fish Bar in Birmingham serves up Uber Eats 1 billionth order.
