Most restaurants treat delivery platform data like a dusty filing cabinet—full of insights but rarely opened. Your Thuisbezorgd and Uber Eats dashboards contain goldmine information about ordering patterns, dish popularity, and customer preferences. Transform this raw data into menu decisions that boost your delivery profits.
What data can you pull from delivery platforms?
Most delivery platforms give you access to reports with valuable information:
- Popularity per dish: How many times was each item ordered?
- Revenue per dish: Which items bring in the most money?
- Time slots: When are certain dishes ordered?
- Combinations: Which dishes are ordered together?
- Average order value: How much do customers spend per order?
💡 Example:
A pizzeria sees in the data that their Margherita pizza makes up 40% of all orders, but only generates 25% of revenue. Their Quattro Stagioni is ordered less (15%) but brings in 30% of revenue.
Action: Promote the Quattro Stagioni more prominently in the app.
Analyze your profitability per dish
Popularity doesn't equal profitability. A dish that's ordered frequently might drain your margins if the food cost runs too high.
- Calculate food cost per dish: Ingredient costs / selling price excl. VAT × 100
- Add packaging costs: Boxes, bags and stickers cost money too
- Subtract platform fee: Usually 15-30% of your order value
💡 Calculation example:
Pasta Carbonara sold via Thuisbezorgd for €14.50:
- Selling price excl. VAT: €13.30
- Ingredient costs: €3.80
- Packaging: €0.45
- Platform fee (25%): €3.33
Net revenue: €13.30 - €3.80 - €0.45 - €3.33 = €5.72 per portion
Identify your menu winners and losers
This represents one of the most common blind spots in kitchen management—treating all dishes equally instead of categorizing by performance. Divide your dishes into four categories based on popularity and profitability:
- Stars: Popular and profitable → Promote these dishes
- Plowhorses: Popular but not profitable → Raise price or lower costs
- Puzzles: Profitable but not popular → Give them a marketing boost
- Dogs: Not popular and not profitable → Consider removing them
⚠️ Note:
Don't forget to factor in your fixed costs. A dish might look profitable, but if you spend a lot of time on it or need to buy special ingredients, it could still be a loss-maker.
Optimize your menu layout in the app
The position of dishes in delivery apps has a big impact on what customers order:
- Put profitable dishes at the top in each category
- Use attractive photos for your Stars and Puzzles
- Group smartly: Put side dishes next to main courses that are often ordered together
- Experiment with prices: Test €0.50 increases on popular dishes
💡 Timing optimization example:
An Asian restaurant sees that their noodle soups are mainly ordered between 5pm-7pm, but their wok dishes more on weekends. They adjust their inventory purchases accordingly and prevent waste.
Measure and adjust
Data analysis isn't a one-time action. Check your numbers monthly and adjust your menu:
- Compare month-on-month: What trends do you see?
- Test new dishes: Add one new item each month
- Remove losers: Dishes that underperform for 3 months can go
- Seasonal adjustments: Warm soups in winter, salads in summer
How do you optimize your menu with platform data? (step by step)
Download your sales reports
Log in to your dashboard on Thuisbezorgd, Uber Eats or other platforms. Download reports from the last 3 months with sales figures per dish.
Calculate profitability per dish
Make a list of your ingredient costs, packaging costs and platform fees per dish. Subtract these from your net selling price to see your actual profit per portion.
Categorize your dishes
Create four lists: popular+profitable (Stars), popular+not profitable (Plowhorses), not popular+profitable (Puzzles), and not popular+not profitable (Dogs).
Adjust your menu layout
Put your Stars at the top in the app, give Puzzles better photos, raise prices on Plowhorses and consider removing Dogs. Test for one month and measure the impact.
✨ Pro tip
Pull your delivery data from the past 8 weeks and identify dishes that spike on specific days—like comfort foods on rainy Sundays or healthy bowls on Monday evenings. Adjust your prep schedules and inventory orders around these predictable patterns.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
How often should I update my menu analysis?
Check your sales figures monthly and adjust your menu quarterly. With major changes (season, new competitor) you can look more often.
Should I include platform fees in my food cost calculation?
Yes, definitely. Platform fees are 15-30% of your order value. Without including these, you won't see your actual profit per dish.
What if my most popular dish isn't profitable?
Try to lower the cost price first (cheaper ingredients, smaller portions). If that doesn't work, gradually raise the price in €0.50 increments.
Can I charge different prices per platform?
Yes, you can. Many restaurants charge 10-15% more on platforms with higher commissions to protect their margin.
How do I prevent customers from leaving when I raise prices?
Increase gradually (€0.50 at a time), test first on less popular dishes, and make sure your quality and portion sizes stay the same.
What's the minimum order volume needed for reliable data analysis?
You need at least 100 orders per month for meaningful insights. Below that threshold, individual customer preferences can skew your data significantly.
📚 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
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (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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