Food For Thought
The way we eat in the UK has transformed over recent years. Just 20 years ago, the only takeaway food we’d routinely enjoy were Indian and Chinese, fish and chips, kebab or a pizza. We’d probably pick it up ourselves, with only the most enterprising restaurants offering a delivery service.
Now in our towns and cities at least, customers can order from apps such as Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats and have it delivered in a matter of minutes.
We’ve also seen an increase in street food – whether at local markets, festivals or from vans appearing on the side of the road at different times during the week, selling anything from Greek food or pizzas. This evolution has meant that talented cooks and bakers have been able to, in some cases, turn a hobby into a full-blown business. There has also been a rise in so called ‘ghost kitchens’ – delivery-only businesses without a physical dining space, with dishes typically created in someone’s home.
Nowadays our takeaway deliveries aren’t just rice or chips but often much more healthy homemade meals, with lots of vegan options. There’s also been an increase in demand for different global cuisines, such as Korean or South American dishes.
Everything has before more convenient – in addition to using delivery firms, there’s been a shift towards contactless deliveries and payment methods and nowadays you don’t even need to see the person delivering your food – you’ll just get a message to say it’s sitting on your doorstep.
Here at Lewis & Co, we provide our accountancy services to a number of food related businesses, including the brilliant Earl Grey Tearooms, just along the road from us in Southborough. They offer delicious coffee and hot chocolate, as well as tea, amazing soup and stunning cakes, among other treats. We also provide support to a fish and chip shop locally, some street food businesses and artisan bakery businesses.
Some of our clients provide delivery through companies such as Deliveroo. Typically, these organisations ask for a percentage of each sale and this can typically be around 30%. While this seems like quite a lot, businesses do benefit from being marketed by the various apps and also don’t have to organise the deliveries themselves. Of course, businesses usually take this into account when setting prices. If they also have a store – then the price on the app is usually higher than instore and the customer benefits from the convenience of having food delivered to their door.
When it comes to filling in tax returns, we can help our clients with reporting on that in their figures. We can also help in various other ways, of course. If, for instance, the food business takes off so well, that the owner decides to franchise the venture – we can support them with that – while we can also provide payroll support for clients who grow large enough to take on staff.
If your street food or ghost kitchen business takes off, we would be happy to support you as you potentially launch your own restaurant or café, supporting you with business plans, pricing strategies, maintaining those all important margins, tax planning and managing your cash flow.
If you run a food business of any kind and would like some help with your accounts, we’d love to hear from you; tel: 01892 513515 or email: info@lewisandco.biz