Food delivery majors UberEats, Door Dash and Menulog send smaller bespoke players such as Delivery Angel packing

In Australia, UberEats and Door Dash charge restaurants a 30 per cent commission, while Menulog’s share is a calculated percentage that differs for each business. There are generally discounts if a restaurant has its own courier or selects a pickup-only service.

A recent report by Uber found 96 per cent of surveyed restaurants had experienced greater revenue over the past year. “Online food delivery brings new opportunities and value to small businesses, workers and consumers in connected communities,” an Uber spokesperson said.

But Ansett said the current commission percentages mean the success of the delivery industry isn’t always translating into income for restaurants.

“It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” Ansett said.

“More than half of the customers who used to go to restaurants now order delivery, that’s what they want to do … [But] how do we keep our costs down to the bare minimum to be able to afford to pay a commission?”

John Hart, national president of the Restaurant and Catering Association, said an independent platform such as Delivery Angel would struggle to survive in the current hospitality climate.

“This isn’t a service that the restaurants can afford to operate themselves,” Hart said. “They don’t have the scale, in most cases, to have their own delivery drivers and their own systems for reaching consumers. So it’s far better that they use a specialist provider of those services.”

‘It’s an industry that’s in the sort of distress I’ve never come across before.’

Etto Pasta Bar co-founder David Ansett

Australia’s food delivery industry is a notoriously difficult market to enter. Deliveroo endured years of losses before closing in late 2022, and Foodora exited in 2018 amid legal difficulties relating to the rights of workers.

Hart said that while there was pushback and “some grumbles” from restaurant operators about commission costs, the benefits of partnering with specialist delivery companies outweighed the disadvantages.

“It’s giving restaurants what they need, which is volume, turnover and scale,” he said. “The delivery operators take out the cost of performing that task, [and] they’re being rewarded for that in terms of the fees.”

Food delivery continues to be a major part of Australian hospitality. Uber Eats alone estimates it had reached 88 per cent of the population in 2024.

With no sign of lower commission fees in sight, Ansett is concerned about the viability of many businesses moving forward.

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“The basic model of restaurants just doesn’t make sense any more,” he said. “For a lot of restaurants, I’m just not sure how they manage that.

“It’s an industry that’s in the sort of distress I’ve never come across before … we’re seeing a significant number going out of business. Really good operators who do really good food and just can’t make the numbers work any more.”

With Jessica Yun

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