“About 75 percent of our customers are women. They usually request this service in the evenings and they mostly ask for pizza and pastries,” said Sharif Hassan, a manager of a fast food restaurant in Khamis Mushait. He said his restaurant serves more than 29 different types of salads to keep its food healthy and nutritious and is offering hot meals at an extra cost of SR2 only.
“Women are usually influenced by publicity on television asking them to try new food products. They may not be able to go to the restaurants themselves in the evenings so they tend to ask for home delivery services,” Hassan said.
He noted home delivery services are now being provided even by small eateries, coffee shops and popular restaurants serving food such as kabsa. “Many of the restaurants hire delivery staff to take food to customers at their homes or workplaces,” he added.
Ahmad Al-Mullah, who is in charge of home delivery at a restaurant in Abha, noted that requests for home delivery usually increase after 6 p.m. and said many of the orders were for broiled chicken, shawarma and grilled meat. “In the afternoons, the demand is larger for kabsa and other rich food,” he said.
Wafa Al-Nihari, a schoolteacher in the south, noted that many female employees were now depending entirely on ready-made meals that were delivered to them at their homes. “The housewives also request ready-made meals especially when they have feasts or when they get tired of cooking,” she said.
She said many women teachers ask for meals to be brought to them at their schools in order to take home with them, especially when their husbands are absent.
Iman Saad, a government employee, said home delivery services were useful for employed women who need time to cook.
“Preparing home meals takes a long time. Ready meals which are home delivered are very useful to us,” she said.
Nura Al-Rafie, a businesswoman, warned against making ordering in a daily habit for housewives.
“Medium income families should not request this service more than once every two weeks while rich families should not demand it more than once a week,” she said.
Nura said home-made meals are better and healthier, especially for men.
“A husband may wish to have a certain meal every now and then so the wife should cook and not depend on ordering in,” she said.
Abdullah Al-Shihri, a government employee, claimed this new service was a ploy used by the wives to empty their husbands’ pockets.
“This service is used at the expense of the family budget. It has made women too lazy to prepare home-cooked meals, particularly lunch and dinner,” he said.
Raja Ismail, a technician at the laboratory of Asir central hospital said home delivery services were useful particularly to women workers who do not have time to prepare food before they go out to work. She, however, said this service should be requested only when there is a need for it, such as during feasts or Ramadan.
She warned that eating too much ready-made food might cause poisoning and ultimately death if the food was not clean and hygienic.
Dr. Balqees Bakhatma, a home economics professor, said the home delivery service should used sparingly as ready-made food might have adverse health, social and economic implications.
“This service has started to have an impact on social interactions. Men like to eat home-cooked food, while their wives are looking for a rest by ordering in. The custom of families getting together to share a meal has started to diminish as a result of this,” she said.
Balqees said the service puts an extra burden on the family budget in addition to its health risks, including obesity.
She also said dependence on ordering in would deprive young Saudi women of learning skills such as cooking.
Balqees noted that home delivery services have become a growing phenomenon, especially among female teachers, employees and nurses.
Balqees warned against ordering in regularly and said preparing a healthy meal at home would not exceed half an hour.
“Saudi women workers should manage their time better. They can start preparing meals before they set out for work and complete them when they are back,” she said.
Balqees also warned that ready-made meals are not as nutritious as home-cooking.
“There are always the risks of obesity, diabetes, cholesterol and other diseases associated with such cooking,” she said.
