The Happiest Hour

The Happiest Hour, an app dedicated to discovering the best food and drink deals that support local pubs, has disclosed the food and beverage preferences of Sydneysiders and Melburnians.

The results are in, and some are rather surprising. In both Sydney and Melbourne, the traditional humble pie ranks at the bottom of the list. 

Parma is not a crowd favorite among Sydneysiders with only 26 per cent of Sydneysiders stating parma as a preference. Melburnians came in at 39 per cent which is also low as parma is known to be legendary in Melbourne. 

Joonas Karppinen, Founder of The Happiest Hour, comments: "It's interesting to see the legendary parma, especially renowned in Melbourne, scoring low in both cities, slipping from its near-top position a decade ago."

Cider was the least favourite drink for both Sydneysiders and Melburnians. Seafood, wings, roast, and schnitzel also received relatively lower rankings in both cities.

In Sydney, cocktails are the top drink choice with a staggering 82 per cent stating cocktails as a preference. Wine (62 per cent) and spirits (60 per cent) came in second and third place, whilst beer (56%) and cider (28%) ranked lowest in Sydney..

In Melbourne, beer takes the number one spot with 75 per cent of those surveyed, followed by cocktails at 70 per cent and wine coming in third place at 59 per cent.

Joonas adds: "It's fascinating to see cocktails as the dominant preference in Sydney, ranking second in Melbourne. Overall, this makes cocktails the most popular food or drink item on our platform. When we survey users who have set cocktails as a preference, the common feedback is that full priced cocktails often cost over $20, so to get them on happy hour for $10-12 is a significant dollar saving. 

While beer takes the overall food/drink top spot in Melbourne, it's second last out of beverage choices in Sydney. This significant difference between the two major cities indicates that Sydneysiders prefer cocktails, wine, and spirits over beer. It's worth noting that more venues have introduced food and wine combo specials over the past year, aligning with the data suggesting wine's popularity in both cities."

Tacos and pizza tied in Sydney.  Sydney pubs have also introduced pizza to their menus.

In Melbourne, burgers are the favourite (53 per cent) with pizza following closely (50 per cent).

Joonas concludes: "I think it's also worth noting the popularity of  tacos and pizza may be driven by how shareable and social those food items are. It's much easier to share a pizza than a steak. Users on our platform are almost always looking for a venue to attend with a mate or a date, and shareable food adds to that experience.

The next phase of the preferences research is to drill down into how preferences vary amongst different regions within cities, so that we can share those local insights with pubs.

The Happiest Hour is experiencing rapid growth, with 1,000 users signing up each week and 50 pubs joining the platform weekly."

https://thehappiesthour.com/