Your most popular delivery dishes are likely bleeding money. Platform fees, packaging costs, and fierce price competition create a perfect storm that destroys margins. High-volume items become profit killers instead of cash cows.
Why popular delivery dishes eat into your profit
It seems logical: if a dish gets ordered constantly through Deliveroo or Uber Eats, you must be making solid money from it, right? Wrong. Your bestsellers often have the thinnest margins because of:
- Platform fees: 15-30% of every order disappears to the platform
- Packaging costs: containers, bags and cutlery add €0.50-€1.50 per order
- Price pressure: you're fighting directly with competitors on the same platform
- No add-ons: missing drinks or desserts that normally boost your margin
? Example:
Your top delivery dish: pasta carbonara at €14.50
- Ingredients: €4.20
- Packaging: €0.80
- Platform fees (25%): €3.63
- Net revenue: €6.67
Real food cost: (€4.20 + €0.80) / €6.67 = 75%!
The hidden costs of delivery
Most operators only count ingredient costs. But delivery introduces extra expenses that silently destroy your margins:
- Packaging materials: aluminium containers, plastic lids, bags, cutlery
- Stickers and labels: for sealing and proper labeling
- Extra processing time: packing requires time = additional labor costs
- Returns: incorrect delivery or damage during transport
⚠️ Note:
Always factor packaging into your cost price. A €0.20 container seems trivial, but at 100 daily orders it costs you €6,000 annually.
How to calculate your real margin
For delivery dishes, you need an adjusted cost calculation:
True cost price = Ingredients + Packaging + (Platform fees / Selling price)
? Step-by-step:
Burger combo at €16.95 via platform (25% fees)
- You receive: €16.95 × 0.75 = €12.71
- Ingredients: €5.40
- Packaging: €0.95
- Total costs: €6.35
Margin: €12.71 - €6.35 = €6.36 (50% of net revenue)
Strategies to protect your margin
You don't need to axe popular dishes. After managing kitchen operations for nearly a decade, I've learned you just need smarter pricing and cost control:
1. Raise prices incrementally
Test a 5-10% price increase. You'll often see minimal order reduction, but significant profit improvement.
2. Optimize your packaging
Buy in bulk quantities. Switch to cost-effective alternatives that still maintain presentation standards.
3. Design 'delivery specials'
Create dishes specifically for delivery with built-in higher margins. Pastas, curries, and wok dishes work exceptionally well.
? Example delivery special:
Pad Thai at €15.95 (delivery exclusive)
- Ingredients: €3.80 (rice noodles, vegetables, sauce)
- Packaging: €0.70
- Net revenue: €11.96
- Margin: €7.46 (62% of net revenue)
Far superior to your regular menu!
Platform-specific approach
Each platform operates differently. Tailor your strategy accordingly:
- Deliveroo: steeper platform fees, but greater order volume
- Uber Eats: reduced fees, but increased competition
- Direct delivery: no platform fees, but you absorb operational costs
Track and optimize
Monitor weekly which delivery dishes move most and their actual profitability. Target your top 5 performers and optimize those first.
Systems like KitchenNmbrs display your real margin per delivery dish instantly, factoring in all costs. This prevents popular items from secretly destroying your profitability.
Related articles
How do you calculate the actual margin of delivery dishes?
Calculate your net revenue
Subtract platform fees from your selling price. At 25% platform fees you receive 75% of the menu price. For example: €16.00 × 0.75 = €12.00 net revenue.
Add up all costs
Calculate ingredient costs + packaging costs together. Don't forget anything: containers, lids, bags, cutlery, stickers. A complete package often costs €0.50-€1.20.
Calculate your actual margin
Subtract your total costs from your net revenue. The result is your actual profit per order. Aim for at least 40-50% margin of your net revenue.
✨ Pro tip
Analyze your 8 most popular delivery items over the past 30 days and recalculate their true margins including all packaging and platform costs. You'll likely discover 3-4 dishes that need immediate price adjustments or menu engineering.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
Calculate it yourself?
Our free food cost calculator does it in seconds.
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Frequently asked questions
Should I charge different prices for delivery and takeaway?
How often should I adjust my delivery prices?
Can I pass platform fees directly to customers?
What constitutes a healthy margin for delivery dishes?
Should I remove poorly performing delivery dishes?
Do certain cuisines perform better for delivery margins?
Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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