Previously, Ridesharing Forum released a report wherein the most-ordered items by customers on your favorite delivery apps are revealed. This time, Careem, the super-app of the Middle Eastern region, shows that banana is the most-ordered item. This and more in this scoop.
Banana is number one for Dubai residents
If Dubai had a shopping basket, this would contain bananas, burgers, fidget toys, and inflatable coolers. Careem and several other big delivery platforms in the region offered consumers a glimpse of their most favorite to order in 2025.
Bananas topped the list, and have been on top for three years in a row.
“Speed is expected. Convenience is assumed. What stands out instead is consistency. Burgers, bananas, and laban appear again and again, alongside impulse buys that reflect how delivery fits into daily decision-making,” stated Arabic magazine Gulf News.
While bananas were the most ordered, it has been reported that Careem also delivered over 1.6 million burgers in 2025. Quite interesting, and since beef is a staple food in the region.
Since Careem is a super-app, there are several dishes you can make using bananas in the Middle East.
The primary Arabic dish using bananas is masoub – also pertained to as masoob or malikia) – a popular and banana bread pudding found throughout the Arabian Peninsula, particularly in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, that health-conscious consumers love to try.
In-app advertising
Meanwhile, in other Careem news, the super-app has partnered with intelligent out-of-home or OOH advertising company Flyby to expand its in-app advertising programs into the real world, enabling various brands to activate campaigns across the divisions of Careem in Dubai.
Careem spoke about the partnership, saying, “This partnership with Flyby takes our advertising offering to the next level – helping brands connect with people wherever they are, whether they’re scrolling through the app, taking a walk, or passing a Careem delivery bike on the street.”
Under this deal, advertising using Careem’s “Everything App” could already reach audiences beyond just mobile screens, via campaigns delivered through Flyby’s innovative and digital delivery boxes mounted on, get this, Careem bicycles.
Don’t mistake Flyby with that name. They are an adtech company that turns last-mile delivery bikes – such as those from Careem – into mobile digital billboards using intelligent, LED-screen-equipped delivery boxes. This, then, offers dynamic, location-based advertising and collating valuable driver behavior data for enhanced fleet management and safety.
This initiative is Careem’s latest expansion concerning its media ecosystem, which bridges digital engagement with actual-world visibility across high-traffic urban areas.
Through this team-up, those delivery boxes from Flyby would offer eye-level exposure across the area’s residents, as well as commercial districts and commuter routes where traditional billboards are not effective.
Smart Delivery Boxes are systems running on the cloud. They are Internet of Things-enabled units with high-visibility LED screens, designed for day-in and day-out exposure and approved for road use in the United Arab Emirates and Europe. Flyby currently has over 200 active boxes with plans to scale to more units by 2026.
Through the collaboration, Flyby’s Smart Delivery Boxes transform delivery bikes into mobile digital billboards, offering eye-level exposure across residential neighbourhoods, commercial districts, and commuter routes where traditional billboards are limited or non-existent.
“This partnership with Careem connects the digital and physical worlds to create a new way of reaching people,” said Saher Khattab, Head of Advertising at Flyby. “Flyby takes brand stories at eye-level to the streets of Dubai, where conventional billboards don’t exist – redefining how brands connect with people on the move,” Flyby’s head of advertising, Saher Khattab, told Ridesharing Forum.