Uber Eats vs Mr D Food – The cheapest option revealed

South Africans looking to save on the price of their fast food delivery will find Mr D Food is often cheaper than Uber Eats.

This is according to an analysis of the prices of these two popular platforms performed by MyBroadband.

Uber Eats and Mr D food offer apps on which you can order food from restaurants and fast food outlets to be delivered to your home.

While they make our lives more convenient, these services come at a premium.

To calculate which one is the cheapest, one must first assess the prices of the food itself.

Uber Eats and Mr D Food charge restaurants a commission fee to make money to sustain their business models, pay drivers, and maintain infrastructure.

In turn, restaurants have to increase their food prices to account for this.

The result is that food prices on these platforms are more expensive than when buying directly from a restaurant.

Due to different agreements in place with the restaurants, these prices typically differed between the two services.

While our previous comparisons provided clear evidence of this, it now appears that several popular restaurants have aligned their pricing of their food across the two services.

These include Mugg & Bean, Steers, KFC, Rocomamas, Cappuccinos, Wimpy, Kauai, Kung Fu Kitchen, and Simply Asia – all of which had the same prices for all foods across both services.

In the area we tested the services, we found only three restaurants with differences in pricing – McDonald’s, Roman’s Pizza, and Turn ‘n Tender.

We then chose seven popular items from each to see how the average prices between the platforms differed.

McDonald’s

Turn ‘n Tender

Roman’s Pizza

Price difference due to service fee

The comparison above showed that neither service had a significant advantage over the other in terms of food pricing.

The more important prices to consider should be the delivery fees and other charges, where the biggest discrepancies can be found.

Uber Eats and Mr D Food charge standard delivery fees on all orders.

In our tests, we found that Mr D Food charged a flat R5, no matter how far the restaurant was from our delivery location.

Uber Eats, however, charged different rates based on what appeared to be distance of the restaurant. These were experienced as follows:

• Short distance: 0-2km – R3
• Medium distance: 2-3km – R6
• Long distance: More than 3km – R9

In addition to these fees, Uber Eats charges a 5% service on the value of an order’s food basket, before adding the delivery fee.

As the value of your food increases, the service fee will become more expensive.

There is also a R5 small order fee which applies in cases where the food basket’s value is less than R50. Mr D Food has no such fee.

For example, if you order a Big Mac from McDonald’s for R42.30 from Uber Eats, a R5.00 small order fee will be charged, on top of the 5% service charge and applicable delivery fee.

Taking the above into consideration, it should be expected that Uber Eats will be more expensive than Mr D Food.

To determine whether this was the case, we calculated what it would cost to order food items from both Mr D Food and Uber Eats at different distances from the restaurant, and at particular price points.

The table below shows which service would be the cheapest for different scenarios when ordering from McDonald’s, where Uber Eats was supposedly cheaper than Mr D Food.

Our comparison of the total price paid showed that in the majority of instances, Mr D Food would be the cheaper choice.

The only scenarios in which Uber Eats would be more affordable was if the following criteria was met:

• Food basket was more than R50.
• Food basket was substantially cheaper than on Mr D Food.
• The restaurant was within a short distance with only R3 delivery fee.

The lower food price and delivery cost would in such instances offset the impact of the service charge.

However, as the food got more expensive and the service charge increased, the difference in pricing shrunk.

Given that the vast majority of popular restaurants now charge similar or the same prices on either service, the odds are not in Uber Eats’ favour.

In cases where Mr D Food offered cheaper prices on food items – such as at Turn ‘n Tender – the price differences would be even more significant.

Therefore, if you would prefer to spend less on delivery or would like to use more of your money on a tip, Mr D Food is the best option.

Now read: The Post Office must deliver all packages under 1kg, but not food – ICASA