The aggregator math nobody shows you at signup

Every restaurant owner we talk to can recite their aggregator commission — usually somewhere between 25% and 35%. Almost none have run that number through their actual P&L. When they do, the reaction is always the same, so let's do it here, in public, with realistic Gulf numbers.

The worked example

Take a AED 100 delivery order. Food cost for a well-run kitchen sits around 30–35%, so AED 32 leaves with the ingredients. Labour takes another 25 or so. Rent, utilities, packaging: call it 18 on a good month. That leaves roughly AED 25 of contribution — before the aggregator's cut.

Now subtract a 30% commission: AED 30. The order that looked profitable is now AED 5 underwater. You paid a platform for the privilege of cooking. Volume doesn't fix this — it scales it.

Your busiest delivery night can be your least profitable night of the week.

Why restaurants stay anyway

Discovery. The apps own the customer's home screen at dinner time, and for a new restaurant that reach is real. The mistake isn't being on the platforms — it's letting them own the second order too. A customer who has ordered from you once shouldn't cost you 30% again.

The direct-channel play

• Put a QR menu on every table and every takeaway bag — the reorder goes to you, not the app.
• Collect the relationship at the moment of service, when goodwill is highest.
• Treat aggregators as paid advertising with a 30% CPA — great for acquisition, ruinous for retention.

This is the entire reason Foodine charges a flat monthly fee and 0% of sales: the economics of your second, third, and hundredth order from a regular should belong to you.