The Challenges Facing UK Takeaways
Takeaways face unique challenges: ingredient inflation, rising energy bills, delivery platform fees, and increased competition. Without a clear pricing strategy, profits are quickly eroded.
The Hidden Costs Impacting Takeaway Profits
Delivery Platform Fees
Just Eat, Uber Eats, and Deliveroo charge between 20 and 35 percent commission. Failing to build this into menu prices often leads to losses.
Packaging Costs
Boxes, cartons, and containers cost between 15 and 40 pence per order. Branded packaging costs even more but is critical for customer experience.
Card Processing Fees
Card fees average 1.5 percent plus a fixed charge, applied to the full total including VAT.
Why Copying Competitors is Risky
Competing purely on price forces margins down. Each takeaway has different costs, staffing, and agreements with suppliers, so replicating a competitor’s pricing model is dangerous.
How to Calculate the Right Takeaway Price
Add up all direct costs (ingredients, packaging, labour)
Apply overheads and waste percentage
Include delivery and payment fees
Add desired margin percentage
Practical Example: Chicken Burger Meal
Ingredients: £2.20
Packaging: £0.40
Labour: £0.70
Overheads: £0.40
Platform fee: £1.50
Card fee: £0.10
Total cost: £5.30. To achieve a 65 percent gross margin, the selling price should be £9.50.
Optimising Menu Engineering for Takeaways
Highlight high-margin items, offer bundled meals, and upsell extras such as drinks or sides. Positioning items strategically on delivery menus can influence ordering behaviour.
Use Our Takeaway Menu Pricing Calculator
Our Menu Pricing & Profit Margin Calculator allows you to input your real-world costs and instantly generate profitable pricing recommendations for takeaway dishes.
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