Is pizza delivery profitable? The real cost per drop
Running your own pizza delivery pays when four things line up: an average order of at least £22–25, two to three drops per driver-hour, a delivery area you can cover in about ten minutes, and a delivery charge or minimum order that covers the gap. Miss those and delivery grows your turnover while your profit stays flat, or falls.
Pizza is the takeaway where delivery is simply expected in the UK — the big chains trained customers to want it in 30 minutes, tracked on a phone. That expectation makes it tempting to say yes to every order. But a delivered pizza costs exactly what a collected one does, plus a car journey, and that journey is what this page puts a number on.
What does one delivery really cost a takeaway?
The driver is most of it
The National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour from April 2026. Add statutory holiday (around 12% for hourly staff), workplace pension where it applies, and employer National Insurance unless the Employment Allowance absorbs it, and a driver costs you roughly £14–15 per hour worked. The only number that matters is that cost divided by drops per hour: three drops is about £5 each; one drop is £15.
The vehicle — and the insurance trap
Most UK takeaway drivers use their own car and claim mileage. From 6 April 2026 HMRC's approved rate for cars is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles (24p for motorcycles), up from the 45p that had been frozen since 2011. A four-mile round trip is £2.20.
The costs nobody budgets
- Idle time. Nobody wants a two-hour Friday shift, so you pay for three or four. Paid hours with no drops double your cost per delivery.
- Kit. Insulated bags, a phone, a card reader and its fees (often 1–1.75% per tap).
- Hoax orders. Fake address, withheld number, three pizzas in the bin. Taking payment online at the order removes most of the problem.
- Cash. Till discrepancies after cash-on-delivery runs are a classic. Less cash, fewer arguments.
A worked example
| Item | Working | Per drop |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | ≈ £14.50/h ÷ 2.5 drops/h | ≈ £5.80 |
| Mileage | 4 miles × 55p | ≈ £2.20 |
| Bags, card fees, sundries | allowance | ≈ £0.40 |
| Total | ≈ £8.40 |
So budget £6–9 per delivery with a busy, employed driver. At 1.5 drops an hour you are past £11. On an £18 order, that can eat most of what the pizza earned.
Compare with what a platform commission costs
What minimum order and delivery charge should you set?
Keep delivery cost under 20–25% of the basket. With an £8 cost that means a £30–35 minimum, or a lower minimum (say £15) plus a £2.50–3 delivery charge.
Should you charge for delivery?
Yes, below a threshold. Customers used to the chains accept a small charge; what kills margin is absorbing it on a single pizza. A common setup: £2.99 under £25, free above. The family ordering four pizzas pays nothing, and the one-margherita order chips in for the petrol.
Zone by drive time, not by radius
| Zone | Drive | Minimum | Charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ≤ 5 min | £12–15 | £0–1.50 |
| 2 | 5–10 min | £18–20 | £2–3 |
| 3 | 10–15 min | £25–30 | £3.50 or set evenings |
A ring road or a river can make a mile-away postcode a 15-minute drive. Draw zones by postcode district and real drive time. Beyond 15 minutes the pizza arrives lukewarm and the driver does two drops an hour.
Batch the drops
Two orders to neighbouring streets in the same 15-minute slot is one round trip. That only happens if customers pick a slot instead of "ASAP".
Employed driver, yourself, or a courier per drop?
- Part-time employed driver for the evening peak: the standard model, and the cheapest per drop once you do 15–20 deliveries a night.
- You or family: no wage on paper, but the oven slows while you are out. The real cost is the pizzas you don't make.
- On-demand couriers (Stuart, Uber Direct, Just Eat's delivery service): no commission on the order, but a fee per drop that rises with distance. Good for overflow, rarely cheaper than a busy driver.
- Marketplaces: they deliver, but take a commission on the whole order.
Deliveroo: what the marketplace route really costs
Lunch deliveries and quiet nights
Lunch can work if you target offices: a fixed deal (a 10-inch pizza, a side salad and a can for around £10), orders in by 11am, one run to the business park. Eight deals to three addresses is £80 for one trip.
And sometimes delivery is what makes a night exist. One rural pizzeria that served a dozen villages went from around 40 pizzas to 9 on Sundays when it stopped delivering for lack of a driver. Before you cut delivery, check which nights it carries.
Zones, per-zone minimums, charges and time slots only work if they are applied to every order rather than negotiated on the phone mid-rush. That is the job of online ordering with delivery zones built in — see also our website template for a delivery pizzeria.
Deliver every night, some nights, or not at all?
| Your situation | Decision |
|---|---|
| Basket over £25, dense area, spare oven capacity | Deliver nightly, charge + minimum per zone |
| Basket £15–20, demand mostly at weekends | Deliver Friday to Sunday only |
| Oven already full at 7.30pm | No delivery in that slot: collection only |
| Wide rural area | Village runs on fixed nights |
| No reliable driver | Courier or marketplace as overflow only |
Oven capacity is the forgotten factor: delivery orders land exactly when the oven is full. If you already turn people away at 7.30pm on a Friday, delivery adds late orders, not sales.
Managing the rush: capacity per 15-minute slot
The cheapest delivery is still the one you didn't drive: a pre-booked collection slot gives the customer a hot pizza on time with no mileage at all.
VAT on delivery charges
Hot takeaway food is standard-rated at 20%, whether collected or delivered, and a delivery charge on that order is standard-rated too. If you are VAT registered, remember your £2.99 charge only puts about £2.49 in your pocket.
FAQ
How much does one pizza delivery cost a takeaway?
With an employed driver doing two to three drops an hour, roughly £6–9 once wages, mileage and kit are counted. Fewer drops per hour push it past £11.
What minimum order should I set for delivery?
One where delivery stays under about a quarter of the basket: with an £8 cost, around £30, or a lower minimum plus a delivery charge.
Does my driver need hire and reward insurance?
Yes. Delivering food for payment is hire and reward, which standard car policies exclude. Check the certificate of every driver using their own car.
Can my drivers be self-employed?
Risky. If they only work for you, on your rota, they are likely workers in law and entitled to minimum wage and holiday pay.
Is delivery worth it for a small pizzeria?
Only with a dense area, decent baskets and spare oven capacity at peak. Otherwise, collection by time slot gives most of the convenience at no delivery cost.