The packaging on a delivery order costs the sum of every item that leaves the kitchen with the food: container, lid, dip pots, cup, bag, tamper seal, cutlery, napkins and flyer. To find out how much, get the unit price of each item from the case you buy, multiply it by how many go in one order and add them up. In the example in this guide, a burger meal with a drink carries $0.91 of packaging: money that sits in no recipe and repeats on every order of the month.
List every item in the order
Pack a real order on the bench and write down everything that goes in. Do not do it from memory; something always gets missed, like the second dip pot or the extra napkins.
Split the items into two groups:
- Per dish: the container and lid, the dip pots, the drink cup, the cutlery kit. They repeat when the order has two dishes.
- Per order: the bag, the tamper seal, the flyer. They are paid once, whether the order has one dish or four.
That split explains why single-dish orders leave you the least.
Get the unit price
For each item: unit price = case price ÷ units in the case. Use the invoice from your last order at the cash and carry or your packaging supplier, not the price you remember. The guide on how to cost packaging and labels covers the general method.
If you are choosing between two case sizes, the unit price tool compares them per item so you can see which is cheaper.
Worked example: a burger meal
You send out an average of 800 orders a month. The most common order is a burger, fries and a 16 oz soft drink.
| Item | Case you buy | Per unit | Per order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft burger clamshell | 250 for $40.00 | $0.16 | 1 = $0.16 |
| Fries box | 500 for $45.00 | $0.09 | 1 = $0.09 |
| 2 oz dip pot with lid | 1,000 for $40.00 | $0.04 | 2 = $0.08 |
| 16 oz cup and lid | 500 for $70.00 | $0.14 | 1 = $0.14 |
| Paper straw | 500 for $10.00 | $0.02 | 1 = $0.02 |
| Paper bag with handles | 250 for $50.00 | $0.20 | 1 = $0.20 |
| Tamper seal sticker | 500 for $15.00 | $0.03 | 1 = $0.03 |
| Cutlery and wet-wipe kit | 250 for $30.00 | $0.12 | 1 = $0.12 |
| Napkins | 500 for $5.00 | $0.01 | 3 = $0.03 |
| Flyer | 1,000 for $40.00 | $0.04 | 1 = $0.04 |
| Total per order | $0.91 |
Sum: 0.16 + 0.09 + 0.08 + 0.14 + 0.02 + 0.20 + 0.03 + 0.12 + 0.03 + 0.04 = $0.91.
At 800 orders a month that is 800 × 0.91 = $728 of packaging a month.
If the order has two burger meals, you add another clamshell, fries box, two dip pots, cup and lid, straw and kit: 0.16 + 0.09 + 0.08 + 0.14 + 0.02 + 0.12 = $0.61 more. The whole order carries $1.52 of packaging instead of 2 × 0.91 = $1.82, because the bag, seal, napkins and flyer do not repeat.
What you can trim
Before you cut anything, ask two questions of every item: what does it add up to each month, and what happens if it is not there?
Cutlery only on request. People eating a burger at home rarely need a cutlery kit. If, when you ask at checkout, 7 in 10 customers say they do not want one, you save 0.12 × 0.70 = $0.084 per order. At 800 orders, $67.20 a month.
A bag that fits. If a smaller bag at $0.14 still holds the clamshell flat and the cup upright, you save 0.20 − 0.14 = $0.06 per order. At 800 orders, $48 a month.
Bigger cases of what you use most. If the same clamshell costs $140 for 1,000, it comes to 140 ÷ 1,000 = $0.14. You save $0.02 per order, $16 a month. In exchange you pay $140 at once instead of $40 and need somewhere dry to store them. It is worth it if you get through 1,000 clamshells in about a month and are not planning to change the design.
With all three changes, packaging drops from $0.91 to 0.91 − 0.084 − 0.06 − 0.02 = $0.75 per order. That is 67.20 + 48 + 16 = $131.20 a month.
What not to trim
Some items cost cents and save you dollars:
- The tamper seal. It tells the customer nobody opened their food. A single refunded $24 order wipes out what you spend on 24 ÷ 0.03 = 800 seals.
- A container that closes properly. If the burger slides and the box pops open on the bike, the refund costs the whole order.
- Sauces and wet items on the side. Ketchup and dressing in their own pots keep the bun and the fries from going soggy.
- A cup lid that seals. A spilled drink soaks the bag and everything in it.
If you are unsure about an item, log complaints for a month with it and a month without.
Drinks have their own packaging
The cup, lid, straw and ice are costed the same way, item by item. In the example above, the cup, lid and straw together cost as much as the burger clamshell. The guide to cups, ice and lids shows how to cost a takeaway drink properly.
Materials and local rules
Before you buy a large stock of plastic disposables, check your local rules on single-use plastics. They change from place to place and over time, and a case of containers you are no longer allowed to use is money lost.
Where packaging sits in your numbers
Packaging is a cost per order, like commission. It belongs in what you keep per order, next to the food and the app commission. The guide to delivery-first food businesses shows how those cents change the number of orders a day you need to cover your kitchen.
Do it with the calculator
Put your recipe into the food cost calculator with delivery packaging as one more line, and it gives you the price you need, with tax and channel commission included.
Frequently asked questions
Does packaging belong in the cost of the dish or the order?
Both, kept separate. The container, dip pots and cutlery go per dish; the bag, seal and flyer go once per order. That way you know what an order of one, two or three dishes costs.
Should I charge customers a packaging fee?
You can charge it separately or build it into the price. What you cannot do is leave it out of the sum, because it comes out of what you keep per order.
Is it worth buying containers by the case of 1,000?
It lowers the unit price but ties up cash and storage. Buy big cases only of items you will certainly use within a few weeks and will not change size.
What if container prices go up?
Update your list as soon as the invoice changes. A rise of a cent or two per item is multiplied by every order you send that month.