Last Updated on May 27, 2026
2026 Data Report
Executive Summary
The UK takeaway and food delivery market is worth £23.6 billion, with over 50,000 takeaway businesses and 468,000 employees. The market has been transformed by delivery platforms, with Just Eat, Deliveroo, and Uber Eats now controlling the majority of online ordering in most areas.
This page breaks down the numbers behind UK takeaway marketing: what orders are worth, how customers find takeaways, the real cost of platform dependency, and what it takes to build a direct ordering channel.
Key Takeaways
- The UK takeaway and food delivery market is worth £23.6 billion, with 50,078 businesses and growing. The food delivery sub-sector alone is worth £14.3 billion.
- Just Eat charges 14% commission for self-delivery and up to 30% with their delivery service. Deliveroo and Uber Eats charge 20 to 30%. On a £20 order, that is £2.80 to £6.00 gone.
- Direct ordering through your own system costs 0 to 5% compared to 14 to 30% on platforms. Shifting 20% of orders to direct saves thousands per year.
- “Takeaway near me” and cuisine-specific searches generate hundreds of thousands of monthly searches in the UK, with most customers ordering within 30 minutes of searching.
- Average order values range from £15 to £25 for single/couple orders and £30 to £50 for family orders. Every pound of commission saved drops straight to profit.
How to Read This Page
This is a reference page, not a blog post. You don’t need to read it top to bottom.
If you want to understand the market size, start at Section 3. If you’re looking at average order values, go to Section 4. If you want to know how customers find takeaways, go to Section 5. For search demand data, check Section 6. If you want to know what’s going wrong for most businesses, skip to Section 8.
All figures are in GBP and reflect UK market data as of early 2026.
Market Size and Structure
UK Takeaway and Food Delivery Market (2026)
Including eat-in takeaway, collection, and delivery
Number of Takeaway Businesses
Plus thousands of restaurants offering delivery as an additional channel
Online Food Delivery Market
The platform-driven delivery segment, growing at 8-10% annually
The UK takeaway market is one of the largest food service sectors in the country, employing 468,000 people. It has been fundamentally reshaped by delivery platforms, which have expanded the total market by making food delivery more accessible, but have also compressed margins for operators.
The key tension in the market is between growth (driven by platforms making ordering easier) and profitability (eroded by platform commissions). The takeaways that thrive long-term are those that use platforms for customer acquisition but build direct ordering channels for retention.
Market Structure by Cuisine
| Cuisine Type | Estimated Market Share | Average Order Value |
|---|---|---|
| Indian / South Asian | 20 – 25% | £20 – £30 |
| Chinese | 15 – 20% | £18 – £28 |
| Pizza | 15 – 20% | £15 – £25 |
| Fish and chips | 10 – 15% | £10 – £18 |
| Kebab / Turkish | 8 – 12% | £12 – £20 |
| Burger / American | 5 – 10% | £12 – £22 |
| Thai / Japanese / Other Asian | 5 – 8% | £14 – £30 |
| Other (Caribbean, Mexican, etc.) | 5 – 10% | £15 – £25 |
Average Order Values
Understanding order values by type helps you identify which orders are worth the platform commission and which are more profitable through direct channels.
| Order Type | Average Order Value | Typical Food Cost % | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single / couple order | £15 – £25 | 28 – 35% | Most common order type |
| Family order (3-4 people) | £30 – £50 | 25 – 32% | Higher value, better margins |
| Large group / party order | ¢50 – £100+ | 22 – 28% | Best margins, often direct |
| Lunch deal / meal deal | £7 – £12 | 30 – 38% | Lower margin, volume play |
| Collection order | £15 – ¢22 | 28 – 35% | No delivery cost, best margin |
Margin Impact of Platform vs. Direct
| Metric | Platform Order (£20) | Direct Order (£20) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £20.00 | £20.00 | – |
| Food cost (30%) | £6.00 | £6.00 | – |
| Platform commission (25%) | £5.00 | – | +£5.00 |
| Payment processing (3%) | – | £0.60 | -£0.60 |
| Ordering system fee | – | £0.50 (est.) | -£0.50 |
| Gross margin | £9.00 (45%) | £12.90 (64.5%) | +£3.90 (+43%) |
Every order you shift from platform to direct adds approximately £3 to £5 in margin. Over 100 orders per week, that is £300 to £500 per week, or £15,600 to £26,000 per year. This is why building a direct ordering channel is the single most important marketing investment for any takeaway.
How Customers Find Takeaways
How customers find and order from takeaways is dominated by two channels: delivery platforms and Google. The balance between them varies by area and cuisine type.
| Channel | Estimated Share of Orders | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Just Eat | 30 – 40% | Stable, largest UK platform |
| Deliveroo | 10 – 15% | Growing in urban areas |
| Uber Eats | 10 – 15% | Growing, expanding coverage |
| Direct ordering (phone) | 10 – 20% | Declining, mostly older customers |
| Direct ordering (online/app) | 5 – 15% | Growing fast among proactive businesses |
| Walk-in / collection | 10 – 15% | Stable |
| Google Search (to direct ordering) | 5 – 10% | Growing |
The key challenge for takeaways is that delivery platforms have become the default discovery and ordering channel for most consumers. Breaking this pattern requires actively incentivising direct ordering through discounts, loyalty schemes, and marketing that drives customers to your own system.
Search Demand and Keywords
Search demand for takeaway food is enormous, consistent, and peaks on Friday and Saturday evenings. The search-to-order window is typically less than 30 minutes.
Top Search Terms by Volume
| Keyword | Estimated Monthly Searches (UK) | Intent |
|---|---|---|
| takeaway near me | 150,000 – 250,000 | Immediate order intent, very high volume |
| food delivery near me | 80,000 – 120,000 | Platform-agnostic, high intent |
| indian takeaway near me | 40,000 – 60,000 | Cuisine-specific, strong conversion |
| chinese takeaway near me | 40,000 – 60,000 | Cuisine-specific, price-sensitive |
| pizza delivery [area] | 20,000 – 40,000 | Most competitive cuisine for delivery |
| kebab near me | 20,000 – 30,000 | Late-night peak, high intent |
| fish and chips near me | 30,000 – 50,000 | Collection-heavy, lower delivery demand |
Combined, takeaway-related searches exceed 500,000 per month in the UK. The vast majority of these searches currently lead to delivery platform results. If your takeaway appears in Google results with a direct ordering link before the platform listings, you capture that customer at zero commission.
Customer Acquisition Costs
Customer acquisition costs vary dramatically depending on whether you acquire through platforms (high ongoing cost) or direct channels (low ongoing cost after initial acquisition).
| Channel | Acquisition Cost | Ongoing Commission | Customer Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just Eat | Free (platform does marketing) | 14 – 30% per order | No (platform owns data) |
| Deliveroo | Free | 20 – 30% per order | No |
| Uber Eats | Free | 13 – 30% per order | No |
| Google Ads (to direct ordering) | £2 – £8 per order | 0 – 5% | Yes (you own data) |
| Leaflet drops | £2 – £8 per first order | 0% | Yes (if ordering via your system) |
| SMS / email (existing) | £0.02 – £0.10 per message | 0% | Yes |
The critical difference: platforms acquire customers for “free” but charge commission forever. Direct channels cost more upfront but the customer becomes yours. A customer acquired through Google Ads for £5 who then orders directly 50 times over two years has a total acquisition cost of £0.10 per order, compared to £3 to £6 per order on a platform.
Red Flags and Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: No direct ordering channel
If every order goes through Just Eat, Deliveroo, or Uber Eats, you are giving away 14 to 30% of every sale and you have no customer data. A direct ordering system costs £30 to £150 per month and pays for itself within the first week of shifted orders.
Mistake 2: No incentive to order direct
Customers will not switch to direct ordering unless you give them a reason. Offer 10 to 15% off for direct orders, a free side dish, or a loyalty programme. The discount costs less than the platform commission you save.
Mistake 3: Bad food photography on platforms
On Just Eat and Deliveroo, your menu photos are the most important conversion factor. Takeaways with professional photos get significantly more orders than those with no photos or poor phone shots. A £200 photo shoot of your top 20 dishes pays for itself immediately.
Mistake 4: Ignoring Google Business Profile
Your GBP listing appears when people search “takeaway near me.” If it links to Just Eat instead of your own ordering system, you are handing margin to a platform when the customer already found you through Google. Link your GBP directly to your own ordering page.
Mistake 5: Not using packaging as marketing
Every delivery bag is a marketing touchpoint. Include a leaflet or sticker with a QR code to your direct ordering system and a first-order discount. This converts platform customers into direct customers one bag at a time.
Methodology
This page is based on a combination of publicly available UK market data, platform pricing research, Google search volume data, and industry reports.
Sources include:
- Statista UK food delivery and takeaway market reports (2025-2026)
- Published commission structures from Just Eat, Deliveroo, and Uber Eats (May 2026)
- Published pricing from Flipdish, OrderYOYO, and other direct ordering providers
- Google Ads Keyword Planner data for UK takeaway search terms (2025-2026)
- UK Food and Drink Federation market data
- Office for National Statistics (ONS) food service sector data
- Whito proprietary analysis of UK takeaway websites and ordering strategies
Platform commission rates change frequently. The figures shown reflect published rates as of May 2026 and may vary based on individual agreements. Always verify current rates directly with each platform.
Whito is not affiliated with any of the platforms, agencies, or tools mentioned on this page.
About Whito
Whito helps UK businesses figure out what’s working and what’s not in their marketing. We’re not an agency and we don’t manage marketing campaigns for takeaways. We publish independent research, tools, and audits designed to give business owners the information they need to make better decisions about where to spend their marketing budget.
We built this page because too many takeaways are making marketing decisions based on guesswork or sales pitches rather than data. This page gives you the numbers so you can benchmark yourself against the rest of the industry.
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