Logistics costs often account for 15-25% of your total costs when delivering meals to care facilities. Many caterers forget to include these costs in their price calculations, which means they unknowingly operate at a loss. You need to calculate all logistics costs and factor them into your prices.
What are logistics costs in care catering?
Logistics costs are all the costs you incur to get meals from your kitchen to the care facility. This goes beyond just fuel - think staffing, packaging, cooling, and planning.
💡 Example:
You deliver 150 meals to a nursing home, 25 km away:
- Fuel: €12 (round trip)
- Driver: €25 (1.5 hours x €17/hour)
- Insulated boxes depreciation: €8
- Packaging: €45 (€0.30 per meal)
Total logistics: €90 = €0.60 per meal
The 5 biggest logistics cost items
1. Transportation costs
These are your direct transport costs:
- Fuel: Calculate €0.25 per kilometer (round trip)
- Vehicle wear and tear: €0.15 per kilometer for depreciation and maintenance
- Insurance and road tax: Divide by your total kilometers per year
2. Transport staffing costs
Your driver costs more than just their salary:
- Gross salary + employer contributions: Often €17-22 per hour all-in
- Travel time: Not just the drive, but also loading and unloading
- Waiting time: At some care facilities you may need to wait until staff are available
⚠️ Note:
Always calculate the total time from departure until return to your kitchen. A 30-minute drive quickly becomes 1.5 hours total with loading, unloading, and waiting.
3. Packaging costs
Care catering requires special packaging that keeps food warm longer:
- Insulated containers: €0.25-0.40 per meal
- Lid and seal: €0.05-0.10 per meal
- Transport boxes: €0.02-0.05 per meal (reusable)
- Cutlery and napkins: €0.08-0.12 per meal
4. Cooling and keeping warm
Meals must stay at temperature during transport:
- Insulated boxes: Depreciation €3-8 per delivery (depending on size)
- Cooling elements: For desserts and salads, €1-3 per delivery
- Temperature monitoring: HACCP-required, €0.50-1 per delivery
5. Planning and administration
The invisible costs that are often forgotten:
- Route planning: 15-30 minutes per day (€4-8)
- Processing orders: Communication with care facility
- Invoicing: Often more complex due to different dietary requirements
💡 Complete delivery calculation example:
200 meals to nursing home (30 km distance):
- Fuel: 60km x €0.25 = €15
- Wear and tear: 60km x €0.15 = €9
- Driver: 2 hours x €19 = €38
- Packaging: 200 x €0.35 = €70
- Insulated box: €6
- Planning: €6
Total: €144 = €0.72 per meal
Formula for logistics costs per meal
Use this formula to calculate your logistics costs exactly:
Logistics costs per meal = (Fixed costs per delivery + Variable costs per meal) / Number of meals
Where:
- Fixed costs per delivery: Fuel, driver, planning, insulated box
- Variable costs per meal: Packaging, cutlery
Factoring into your selling price
Logistics costs are part of your total cost price. Add them to your food and labor costs before calculating your selling price. From tracking this across dozens of restaurants, I've seen that operators who don't include logistics often run 12-18% lower margins than they think they do.
💡 Price calculation example:
Meal for care facility:
- Ingredients (food cost): €3.20
- Preparation (labor): €1.80
- Logistics: €0.70
- Total cost price: €5.70
At 25% margin: €5.70 / 0.75 = €7.60 selling price excl. VAT
Saving on logistics costs
More efficient logistics means more profit per meal:
- Bundle deliveries: Multiple locations on one route
- Fixed delivery times: Avoid waiting time at care facilities
- Minimum orders: Make small deliveries less attractive
- Reusable packaging: Higher investment, lower costs per meal
⚠️ Note:
Care facilities often have strict delivery times (around 5 PM for dinner). Plan your route accordingly and factor in waiting time if other deliveries run late.
How do you calculate logistics costs? (step by step)
Gather all transport costs per delivery
Note fuel (€0.25/km round trip), driver salary (total time x hourly rate), and vehicle costs (€0.15/km for wear and tear). Also include waiting time - a 30-minute drive often becomes 1.5 hours total.
Calculate packaging and material costs
Add up: insulated containers (€0.25-0.40), lids (€0.05-0.10), cutlery (€0.08-0.12) per meal. Add: depreciation of insulated boxes (€3-8 per delivery) and temperature monitoring (€0.50-1 per delivery).
Divide total costs by number of meals
Formula: (Fixed costs per delivery + Variable costs per meal) / Number of meals = Logistics costs per meal. Add this to your food cost and labor costs for your total cost price.
✨ Pro tip
Track your actual delivery times for 2 weeks to get real data - most caterers underestimate by 20-30 minutes per run. Use this data to recalculate your true hourly logistics costs.
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 do I calculate different distances to multiple care facilities?
Calculate logistics costs per location separately and set different prices. A location 10 km away has different logistics costs than one 40 km away. You can also create zones with fixed logistics surcharges.
What if a care facility suddenly orders fewer meals?
Work with minimum orders per delivery to cover your fixed costs (driver, fuel). For example: minimum 50 meals, otherwise a €25 surcharge for small deliveries.
How often should I recalculate my logistics costs?
Check your fuel costs monthly and your total logistics costs every quarter. Major changes like new routes, different drivers, or fuel price spikes require immediate recalculation and price adjustments.
Can I deduct logistics costs as business expenses?
Yes, all logistics costs (fuel, driver salary, packaging, vehicle costs) are deductible business expenses. Keep receipts and record kilometers for tax purposes.
📚 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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