Australians would rather skip a new pair of shoes than skip dinner. The 2025 “Forks & Searches” Food Trends Report from CupoNation has landed, and it paints a picture of a nation happily clutching its forks in one hand and its Google search bar in the other.
Despite rising living costs, Australians are on a determined quest for flavour. The study crunched over 9,400 search terms and 23,706 restaurant listings across six cities. The results? A banquet of surprises — Ethiopian food galloping into the spotlight, Adelaide cheekily leapfrogging Sydney in foodie curiosity, and the humble chicken ruling menus with the quiet confidence of a monarch who doesn’t need a crown.
Ethiopian Cuisine: From Nowhere to Everywhere
If you told an Aussie diner five years ago that Ethiopian food would one day top the nation’s “must-try” list, they’d likely have laughed between mouthfuls of pad thai. Yet here we are. Searches for Ethiopian cuisine have soared by a jaw-dropping 2,767% year-on-year.
The communal dishes, spicy stews, and pancake-like injera bread clearly find favour with adventurous eaters. Perhaps it’s the novelty, maybe it’s the depth of flavour, or possibly we’ve run out of new ways to reinvent smashed avo.
“Australians may be feeling the pinch, but they’re not losing their appetite for discovery,” said Creed Van Ryt, Head of Account Management at CupoNation. His words ring true: food remains among the few luxuries Australians refuse to cut back on. After all, when your taste buds can travel, who needs a plane ticket?
Japanese Food: The Great Mismatch
The report also confirms what many already suspected: Australians are mad for Japanese cuisine. With 220,000 monthly searches, it leaves Italian, French, Indian, Korean and Vietnamese in the dust. Yet here’s the kicker: TripAdvisor shows Japanese eateries ranking only eighth across Australia’s biggest cities.
It’s like having the entire country queuing up for sushi while the nation’s chefs are still rolling pasta. One can almost hear entrepreneurial restaurateurs sharpening their knives: the demand is there, the supply is not. Opportunity, thy name is sashimi.
Coffee Shops Outmuscle Pizza
If there were any lingering doubts, this report confirms them: we are a café nation. Cafés now outnumber pizza joints and bars, making up six per cent of all restaurant listings nationwide.
Our devotion to the flat white is not just about caffeine; it’s about culture. A café is where business deals are inked, breakups are softened, and novels are attempted but never finished. We may argue over politics, climate, or sport, but Australia has achieved rare unity in coffee.
Chicken Still the People’s Champion
On the menu front, chicken reigns supreme, appearing on nearly one in every ten menus across the country. While steak may strut and seafood might shimmer, chicken quietly delivers, time and again.
The surprise contender is salad. The rabbit food has outpaced beef, pork, fish, and desserts. Anyone’s guess is whether this reflects a growing health kick or simple side-dish inflation. Either way, Australia’s green revolution is quietly taking root alongside its poultry obsession.
Adelaide Outdoes Sydney
In one of the cheekiest twists of the report, Adelaide has overtaken Sydney in food-related curiosity. Per capita, Adelaide clocks in at 24.5 searches per 1,000 people, compared with Sydney’s 23. Melbourne remains the undisputed leader at 26.3, while Brisbane (23), Perth (22.1), and Canberra (17.5) round out the field.
For Sydney, it’s a bruising demotion. For Adelaide, it’s vindication. Long derided as a sleepy city of churches, Adelaide is now proving itself a city of chefs — or at least a city of diners desperate for novelty.
South Australia Refuses to Follow the Script
If the rest of the country is chasing Japanese flavours, South Australia is happily marching to the beat of a dhol drum. North Indian cuisine tops the state’s search rankings, bucking the national trend entirely.
And while other states are leaning further into Asian food, South Australia posted an 878% increase in Mediterranean cuisine searches. Perhaps it’s the wine or the sun, but Adelaide prefers its curries and calamari to come with a side of independence.
More Than Just Food
CupoNation’s report doesn’t just track what Australians are eating. It tells us how food is woven into our sense of identity, resilience, and joy. Even in tough times, we chase flavours that surprise and connect us.
Dining isn’t merely about plates and menus; it’s a cultural ritual. It’s how Australians signal curiosity, celebrate diversity, and dare we say it, distract ourselves from the weekly grocery bill.
The Final Word
So what does the 2025 CupoNation report reveal? That while costs rise, Australians’ taste for adventure remains unshaken. We’ll swap flights for forks, souvenirs for spice blends, and let Adelaide lord it over Sydney until next year’s rankings.
And if all else fails, we’ll still have chicken.
By Soo James
