A £7.50 donner meal can look like easy money until the meat portion grows, the sauce bottles disappear and the packaging bill lands. This kebab shop margin example shows what one popular meal can really return, where profit quietly leaks, and how to cost a menu price that still works on a busy Friday night.
The figures below are illustrative, not a fixed rule. Your wholesale buy price, local competition, portion size, VAT position and delivery-app commission all change the result. But the discipline stays the same: cost every item that leaves the kitchen, then set the selling price from the number - not from what the shop down the road happens to charge.
Start with one proper kebab shop margin example
Take a standard large donner kebab meal: donner meat in a large pitta, salad, two sauces, a portion of chips and a canned drink. The customer price is £8.50 including VAT. For a VAT-registered business selling standard-rated hot food, that is £7.08 net of VAT. This is the number to compare with your net ingredient costs.
Here is a realistic example of the direct food and packaging cost per meal, using controlled portions:
| Item | Portion cost |
|---|---:|
| Doner meat, 180g cooked portion | £1.28 |
| Large pitta bread | £0.24 |
| Salad and pickles | £0.30 |
| Sauces, measured | £0.16 |
| Chips, 180g portion | £0.32 |
| Canned drink | £0.52 |
| Box, napkins and bag | £0.29 |
| Total direct cost | £3.11 |
Against net sales of £7.08, the direct gross profit is £3.97. That gives a food and packaging cost percentage of roughly 44%, leaving a gross margin of around 56% before wages, rent, energy, card fees, wastage and overheads.
That is not a bad line, but it is not a licence to relax. If the same meal is sold through a delivery platform taking 25% commission, the economics change sharply. Commission on the £7.08 net sale is about £1.77. Your £3.97 gross profit becomes £2.20 before labour and premises costs. If the platform price is identical to your walk-in price, the meal may be doing far less for the business than it appears.
Your portion control is your margin control
The biggest swing in a donner meal is usually not the pitta or the chips. It is the meat. Add an extra 50g to every serving because the rush is on and no one is weighing portions, and the cost can climb by 35p or more per meal. Across 100 meals in a weekend, that is £35 gone from the till - from one product, on one small habit.
Set a serving weight for each size and make it practical for staff to follow. A scoop, portion tray or calibrated tong system is usually quicker in service than repeated arguments about whether a portion looks right. Weigh a sample at the start of shift, especially when training new staff. Customers need consistency too. A generous-looking meal should be designed into the offer, not created randomly during a rush.
The same applies to sauces. Free sauce does not mean unlimited sauce. Pumps or portion pots make the cost predictable and reduce messy packaging. Salad needs a set build as well. A handful too much in every kebab can raise waste, slow the line and leave you short before closing.
Cooked yield matters on the spit
Do not cost doner meat using only the price of the raw product. Cost it on usable, saleable yield. If a product has trim, end waste or a lower cooked yield than expected, the real per-portion cost rises. Track how many sellable 180g portions you get from a typical block or spit over several shifts.
A lower purchase price is not always the better buy. A product that holds well, slices consistently and gives strong yield may protect margin better than a cheaper option with more waste. This is where buying decisions should be commercial, not just based on the invoice line.
Price the channel, not just the meal
A counter customer, a telephone order and an app order can all buy the same kebab, but they are not equally profitable. Card charges, platform commission, discounts and promotional contributions can turn a healthy menu item into a weak one.
You have a few sensible options. Build the commission into delivery-platform prices. Create meal bundles that raise average spend without giving away high-cost extras. Or steer customers towards collection with a clear deal that still leaves room for profit. A collection-only offer can be powerful because it avoids commission and gives you a chance to sell drinks, sides and desserts at the counter.
Be careful with blanket discounts. A 20% discount sounds simple to market, but it does not cut your costs by 20%. In the example above, a 20% reduction takes the £8.50 customer price to £6.80. Net sales fall to £5.67 while direct cost remains £3.11. Gross profit drops to £2.56 before any app commission. That is a very different trade from a controlled bundle deal.
Build margin across the order
Not every item needs the same percentage margin. A kebab shop wins through the whole basket. Doner can be competitive if chips, bottled drinks, cans, sauces, cookie dough or a strong side range are correctly priced and consistently upsold.
A £1.20 cost add-on sold for £3 can add useful cash gross profit without adding much labour. But only push products that fit the service flow. If an upsell slows the kitchen, causes errors or needs extra holding equipment, the apparent margin can disappear in labour and complaints.
Look at cash gross profit as well as percentage. A 70% margin on a low-priced item may generate less money than a 55% margin on a well-built meal deal. The goal is not to chase one perfect percentage. It is to create a menu that pays for the operation, keeps customers returning and remains competitive locally.
What this example leaves out
The £3.97 direct gross profit in this kebab shop margin example is not net profit. You still need to cover staff wages, employer costs, rent, rates, electricity and gas, insurance, cleaning products, repairs, card processing, marketing, licences and waste. If you are owner-operated, your own time needs a value too.
That is why a menu can be busy and still feel short of cash. High sales do not automatically mean healthy profit. If your weekly takings rise but stock purchases rise even faster, the business is feeding demand without retaining enough margin.
Review your top sellers at least monthly, and immediately when a supplier price changes. You do not need a complicated spreadsheet to begin. Record the pack cost, pack size, number of portions, packaging cost, menu price and channel commission. Then compare theoretical usage with actual stock usage. The gap tells you where to look: over-portioning, waste, incorrect stock counts, staff meals or unrecorded giveaways.
Buy for the menu you actually sell
A full basket of trade stock is only a saving when it matches your volume, storage and menu plan. Bulk-buy pricing on fast-moving meat, chips, drinks, packaging and sauces can lower your cost per portion. Overbuying slow lines that expire, take up freezer space or force substitutes into service does the opposite.
Keep your core lines dependable and avoid changing a customer favourite every week to save a few pence. Consistency has value. The right wholesale partner should help you buy the recognised, menu-relevant products you need in workable pack sizes, then replenish quickly when the weekend has been stronger than planned. ADZ Foods is built around that kind of practical, fast-food trade basket for North West operators.
When you next review a kebab price, do not start by asking what competitors charge. Start with the portion on the tray, the packaging around it and the route it takes to the customer. Once those numbers are tight, every busy service has a better chance of putting real money back into the business.
