Uber Eats vs Mr D Food – 2019 pricing shootout
The two biggest food delivery platforms in South Africa are Uber Eats and Mr D Food, both of which offer a centralised interface to order food from a wide variety of restaurants with minimal delivery costs and service fees.
Mr D Food and Uber Eats include hundreds of restaurants and offer collection and delivery options, although their fee structures are slightly different.
Uber Eats charges a variable delivery fee depending on how far away your location is from your restaurant of choice, while Mr D food adds a fixed service fee to each order.
To determine which of these applications was cheaper for South Africans to use, we compared the delivery pricing for a variety of meals from a selection of popular restaurants.
We used a central location in Johannesburg as our benchmark delivery point, selecting the closest restaurants to simulate a realistic scenario.
In addition, we noted the delivery or service fee for each restaurant on Uber Eats and Mr D Food, and incorporated this amount into the price of each order.
This provides a realistic comparison of the total cost for ordering each menu item. Below are the results of the comparison.
McDonald’s
- Uber Eats delivery fee – R10
- Mr D Food service fee – R5
| Menu Item | Mr D Food | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|
| Big Mac Meal | R53.90 | R59.90 |
| McFeast Meal | R94.90 | R93.50 |
| Chicken Foldover Meal | R78.00 | R70.90 |
| Double Quarter Pounder Meal | R84.90 | R84.90 |
| Grand Chicken Meal | R78.90 | R79.90 |
| Cheese Burger | R28.90 | R38.50 |
| Hamburger | R25.90 | R36.00 |
| Average Price | R63.63 | R65.37 |
Rocomamas
- Uber Eats delivery fee – R10
- Mr D Food service fee – R0 (Free Delivery)
| Menu Item | Mr D Food | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|
| Old Skool Burger (150g) | R59.00 | R69.00 |
| The Slacker Burger | R112.00 | R122.00 |
| Bacon Cheese Guac Burger (200g) | R112.00 | R110.00 |
| Mushroom Swizz Burger (150g) | R86.00 | R96.00 |
| Small Shoestring Fries | R24.00 | R34.00 |
| Beef Ribs (1kg) | R368.00 | R378.00 |
| Buffalo Wings (8) | R80.00 | R90.00 |
| Jalapeno Bombs (6) | R50.00 | R60.00 |
| Average Price | R111.38 | R119.88 |
Mugg & Bean
- Uber Eats delivery fee – R10
- Mr D Food service fee – R5
| Menu Item | Mr D Food | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|
| The M&B Classic | R64.90 | R69.90 |
| The Famous One | R79.90 | R84.90 |
| BBQ Beef Burger | R84.90 | R89.90 |
| Chicken Mayo Sandwich | R64.90 | R69.90 |
| Alabama Chicken Panino | R94.90 | R99.90 |
| Giant Choc-Chip Muffin | R44.90 | R49.90 |
| Serious Cappucino | R36.90 | R41.90 |
| Average Price | R67.33 | R72.33 |
Simply Asia
- Uber Eats delivery fee – R10
- Mr D Food service fee – R5
| Menu Item | Mr D Food | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Yum Soup (Chicken) | R64.20 | R69.20 |
| Brinjals Stir-Fry (Chicken) | R97.90 | R102.90 |
| Steamed Rice | R23.10 | R28.10 |
| Vegetable Spring Rolls | R52.10 | R57.10 |
| Roasted Duck in Soya Sauce | R148.60 | R153.60 |
| Roti with Banana and Condensed Milk | R44.90 | R49.90 |
| Average Price | R71.80 | R76.80 |
Col’Cacchio
- Uber Eats delivery fee – R10
- Mr D Food service fee – R5
| Menu Item | Mr D Food | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|
| Piatto di Emilia | R141.00 | R146.00 |
| Carne Antipasto | R172.00 | R177.00 |
| Wasa-Bee Salad | R135.00 | R140.00 |
| Margherita Pizza | R99.00 | R104.00 |
| Regina Pizza | R127.00 | R132.00 |
| Cielo Pasta | R147.00 | R152.00 |
| Average Price | R136.83 | R141.83 |
Results
It is apparent from the comparison above that Mr D Food is consistently cheaper than Uber Eats, mostly by virtue of its lower delivery fee.
In the instance of Rocomamas, Mr D Food offered free delivery on all orders.
It is important to note that Mr D Food requires a minimum of R65 to be spent when placing an order, while Uber Eats will add on an additional charge for small orders.
The overall difference between the two food delivery apps is slight, and in an instance where a store was close enough that Uber Eats charged R5 for delivery, their pricing would be equal.
The difference in pricing shown above also becomes less significant as orders grow in size.
The R5 flat margin applies on a per-order basis, meaning that you will not save more than the delivery fee deficit by ordering more items.
This means that for a R250 order from Simply Asia, you would only save 2% by using Mr D Food over Uber Eats.
Now read: Uber launches debit and credit cards
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