How to price a tiffin service: a worked cost example

Start with costs before looking at competitors

Tiffin service pricing starts with the cost of the meal you actually deliver. Two kitchens can sell similar dishes but have different portions, delivery routes, rent, packing materials and working hours. A nearby competitor’s price is useful context; it is not proof that the same number will work for your kitchen.

Define one standard meal and cost it at a realistic batch size. Include your own preparation and packing time, even if you are not yet paying yourself a regular salary. The following numbers are an illustrative worksheet, not market rates or a promise of profit. Replace every amount with your own purchase records and operating expenses.

Separate meal costs from monthly overheads

Some costs rise with each box: ingredients, disposable packing, a delivery charge paid per meal and an occasional replacement. Other expenses are paid across the month, such as a fixed kitchen charge or a recurring tool subscription. Separating the two helps you see what happens when volume changes.

Fuel, labour and delivery may contain both fixed and variable parts. Use the classification that reflects how you actually pay. A rider paid a fixed daily amount behaves differently from a delivery partner charging for every address. Do not count the same bill twice just because it fits two headings.

• Ingredients: dal, vegetables, flour, rice, oil, spices and accompaniments.
• Packing: containers, lids, bags, labels and an allowance for damaged items.
• Labour: buying, preparation, cooking, cleaning and packing.
• Delivery: the real cost of the route or per-order handover.
• Overheads: recurring expenses not already allocated above.

Work through a single-meal example

Suppose one kitchen estimates the direct costs below for a standard lunch at its planned batch size. The ₹64 total is a hypothetical operating estimate. It is not an observed price from a supplier, a suggested selling price or an industry average. The value of the exercise is the calculation method.

At an illustrative selling price of ₹90 with delivery included, ₹26 remains after those direct costs: ₹90 minus ₹64. That ₹26 must still cover any unallocated overhead, unexpected costs and the return you want from the business. It should not be described as guaranteed net profit. If delivery is charged separately, show the customer’s total clearly and include the delivery income and expense consistently in your worksheet.

Check the price at a realistic number of meals

Imagine the same example has ₹6,000 of monthly overhead that has not already been counted in the direct cost. At a contribution of ₹26 per meal, 231 meals would cover that overhead after rounding up: ₹6,000 divided by ₹26. This is an illustrative break-even calculation before any other costs or taxes that apply to the business.

Now change the volume. Across 600 meals, that overhead is ₹10 per meal; across 300 meals it is ₹20. A price that only works at a full kitchen may be difficult during the first month. Plan a conservative case and a busier case, and be explicit about which expenses are included in each. If costs vary substantially by dish, calculate a weekly average using the planned menu rather than a single inexpensive lunch.

Measure portions and recipe yield

Buy a packet of an ingredient and record how much enters the batch. The purchase cost of the entire packet is not always the cost of that day’s meals. Conversely, using ingredients already in your cupboard does not make them free. Estimate their replacement cost so that the next shopping trip does not erase your apparent margin.

Measure your standard portion after cooking, because raw weight and usable cooked yield are different measures. Account for trimming, preparation losses and food left after packing. Use one serving utensil where possible. If customers regularly ask for a larger portion, price a clear upgrade rather than quietly increasing every box while leaving the worksheet unchanged.

A weekly menu plan makes this calculation more useful. It lets you compare an expensive paneer day with a simpler dal-and-sabzi day across the actual number of service meals.

Build weekly and monthly plans from service meals

Decide what your plan counts before applying a discount. Seven lunches are different from seven days of lunch and dinner. A monthly subscription may have defined service days and kitchen closures; it should not leave customers guessing whether every calendar day is included. Write the unit, number of meals and delivery arrangement next to the price.

The last row assumes the dinner has the same example price; your actual dinner may cost more or less. A discount is a deliberate reduction in contribution, not a free reward for receiving money early. Check whether predictable orders genuinely reduce waste or delivery expense before promising a long-term lower rate.

Make delivery and extras visible

Choose whether your published meal price includes delivery to a specific area or whether the fee is listed separately. Both can be understandable if the final total is clear before confirmation. Avoid advertising a low meal price and only mentioning mandatory packing or delivery charges when a customer is ready to pay.

Cost extra rotis, curd, additional rice and special dishes separately. Include the extra packing or preparation they require. For a group drop, calculate the route cost across the actual number of meals, and confirm who receives the delivery. Do not apply a group-delivery discount to scattered individual addresses unless the saving still exists.

Budget for pauses, waste and changes

Subscription pauses affect buying and batch sizes. Decide the notice you need before the cooking cutoff, and explain the rule before taking a recurring order. If you allow a meal to move to a later service day, record the remaining entitlement clearly. A refund, replacement or carry-forward decision should follow your stated policy and any applicable obligations.

Record unsold portions, replacement meals and packing mistakes in the cost sheet. These are operating information, not something to hide by assuming every cooked meal sells. A smaller menu or a reliable order cutoff may be more effective than increasing your advertised price to cover avoidable daily waste.

Use the confirmation steps in our WhatsApp ordering guide so the kitchen is working from accepted requests rather than every enquiry in a chat.

Review costs without surprising existing customers

Check your main ingredient, packaging and delivery expenses regularly. Compare actual spend with the estimate for the menu you served. If a temporary change can be absorbed without harming the service, you may choose to do that. If a sustained increase changes the economics, plan a clear price revision instead of silently reducing portions.

Keep a record of what each existing subscriber bought and the terms agreed at that time. Explain any change and its effective date, and confirm how it applies to renewals or future purchases. Do not overwrite an agreed plan casually just because a new price is visible on your website. Clear communication protects the relationship as well as your records.

Keep a reusable pricing worksheet

Meal / portion: __________________
Batch size: _____________________
Ingredients used: ₹______________
Packing: ₹_______________________
Labour: ₹________________________
Fuel / cleaning: ₹_______________
Delivery: ₹______________________
Other direct cost: ₹_____________
Direct cost per meal: ₹___________
Selling price: ₹_________________
Contribution per meal: ₹_________
Unallocated monthly overhead: ₹__
Planned service meals: __________
Review date: ____________________

Keep the bills and assumptions behind the totals. When a number changes, you should be able to identify the reason: a different supplier, a larger serving, a longer route or a lower batch yield. Compare actual results for a completed week before treating the worksheet as a reliable recurring price.

Compare pickup, individual delivery and a group drop

A price can change when the delivery arrangement changes, even if the recipe does not. Make three small versions of your worksheet: customer pickup, an individual address and several meals received at one agreed building. Keep the food and portion the same so that you can identify which cost actually changes.

In the illustrative example, removing the ₹8 delivery allocation would reduce direct cost from ₹64 to ₹56 only if that expense genuinely disappears. It would not remove your buying time, packing time or overhead. If you reduce the pickup selling price, recalculate the remaining contribution using the new price rather than assuming the entire difference becomes profit.

For a group delivery, spread the route expense over the number of confirmed boxes you can hand over together. Then test a smaller group: what happens if only half the customers order on a particular day? If the route no longer saves money, a permanent large discount may need a minimum group size or a different arrangement, explained before the order is accepted.

Write the result as a simple customer offer with the area, delivery condition and final price. Keep the internal worksheet separate. Customers need a clear total and service promise; they do not need to interpret every operating assumption behind it. Review the comparison again when the route or group size changes.

Publish prices customers can understand

On OrderTiffin, owners define meal-plan prices, delivery areas and applicable fees. Keep the public description aligned with the plan you are prepared to fulfil. Your website subscription is a separate business expense from the customer’s food order; include it in your own operating worksheet without presenting it as a mandatory customer charge.

Before sharing the page, open the sample ordering flow and think through the information a first-time customer needs: meal, quantity, service dates, delivery address and total. If you are still preparing to launch, use the home tiffin business checklist alongside this worksheet. Create your kitchen page once your offer, price and delivery promise agree.