South Korean App Offers Fake Food Deliveries to Soothe Pandemic-Era Anxieties

Wo-Yeon Pa, a 23-year-old mechanical engineering student from South Korea, created an unusual app called Food Never Comes to address her own struggles with overeating and unhealthy food delivery habits. The app allows users to order meals from dozens of restaurants across 11 countries, but the food is never actually prepared or delivered. Instead, users experience a simulated delivery process, including a virtual delivery person moving on a map, culminating in a message that the order was canceled to save money and health. Since its launch in May, the app has processed 700,000 fake orders worldwide, with 35,000 weekly users engaging in what the site calls "supplying cravings." Pa explains that many users enjoy ordering expensive or large quantities of food to feel wealthy, and the app helps break the cycle of habitual food delivery.

Experts link the app’s popularity to South Korea’s intense social and economic pressures on young people, including high unemployment, loneliness, and societal expectations around education, employment, and marriage. Dr. Ira Lian from the Hebrew University notes that such apps provide a harmless outlet for stress and loneliness, similar to watching cat videos online. The trend also reflects changing eating habits in South Korea, where solo dining has become common amid a rise in single-person households.

Alongside Food Never Comes, another South Korean site, Damta.world, offers a virtual cigarette-smoking experience to help users quit smoking by simulating the act without real cigarettes. Behavioral economist Prof. Guy Hochman explains that these "dopamine sites" do not necessarily trigger addiction but fulfill a deeper psychological need for escapism and control during uncertain times.

The phenomenon resonates beyond South Korea, as people worldwide seek novel, risk-free experiences that provide satisfaction and social engagement without real consumption. Hochman highlights that in unstable periods, such as post-pandemic or conflict-affected regions like Israel, people crave illusions of meaningful interaction and pleasure, even if the products or experiences are imaginary. Ultimately, these apps offer a simulated sense of fulfillment but may replace one psychological issue with another if overused.