The two biggest food delivery platforms in South Africa are Uber Eats and Mr D Food, each of which offers a large selection of restaurants and charges their own delivery and service fees.
These applications partner with restaurants to facilitate deliveries to customers within a certain area. Food is delivered by driver-partners who use the app to choose when to accept deliveries and in which areas to operate.
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.
The delivery or service fee charged by Uber Eats and Mr D Food was noted and included in the price of each order.
This provides a realistic comparison of the total cost for ordering each menu item.
We did not include the tip amount, although it is important to note that both uber Eats and Mr D Food allow you to tip delivery drivers.
Below are the results of the comparison.
McDonald’s
Delivery Fee:
- Uber Eats – R3
- Mr D Food – R5
| Menu Item | Mr D Food | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|
| Big Mac | R47.90 | R46.43 |
| McChicken Meal | R51.90 | R52.94 |
| Quarter Pounder with Cheese | R58.90 | R58.82 |
| Big Mac Meal | R59.90 | R55.15 |
| McFeast Spicy Meal | R103 | R93.41 |
| Beef Sharebag | R231.90 | R218.04 |
| Chicken Sharebag | R231.90 | R220.04 |
| Average Price | R112.20 | R106.40 |
Rocomamas
Delivery Fee:
- Uber Eats – R3
- Mr D Food – R5
| Menu Item | Mr D Food | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|
| Old Skool Burger | R64.00 | R69.95 |
| Rock Star Burger | R91.00 | R93.30 |
| Classic Cheese Burger | R82.00 | R83.85 |
| The Slacker | R131.00 | R135.30 |
| 8 Wings | R91.00 | R93.30 |
| Jalapeno Six Bombs | R64.00 | R64.95 |
| 500g BBQ Beef Ribs | R207.00 | R215.10 |
| Average Price | R104.29 | R107.96 |
Debonairs
Delivery Fee:
- Uber Eats – R6
- Mr D Food – R5
| Menu Item | Mr D Food | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|
| Classic Margherita | R69.90 | R74.15 |
| Four Seasons | R99.90 | R105.65 |
| Club | R114.90 | R121.40 |
| Tikka Chicken | R119.90 | R126.65 |
| Crammed-Crust Meat | R154.90 | R163.40 |
| Double Crammed-Crust Chicken | R164.90 | R173.90 |
| Triple-Decker Creamy Chicken | R174.90 | R184.40 |
| Average Price | R128.47 | R135.65 |
Mugg & Bean
Delivery Fee:
- Uber Eats – R3
- Mr D Food – R5
| Menu Item | Mr D Food | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|
| Famous Giant Muffin | R37.90 | R37.55 |
| On-The-Go | R59.90 | R60.65 |
| Breakfast Bun | R59.90 | R60.65 |
| Chicken Mayo Toasted Sandwich | R70.90 | R72.20 |
| Baked Cheesecake | R74.90 | R76.40 |
| Classic Benedict | R87.90 | R90.05 |
| BBQ Burger | R109.90 | R113.15 |
| Average Price | R71.61 | R72.95 |
Soul Souvlaki
Delivery Fee:
- Uber Eats – R3
- Mr D Food – R5
| Menu Item | Mr D Food | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|
| Dolmades | R42.00 | R43.95 |
| Grilled Chilli Feta | R54.00 | R57.60 |
| Lamb Skewer | R57.00 | R61.80 |
| Grilled Halloumi in PIta | R77.00 | R82.80 |
| Lamb Souvlaki in Pita | R92.00 | R95.40 |
| Grilled Bifteki Plate | R112.00 | R120.60 |
| Meze Chicken and Beef Combo | R504.00 | R554.25 |
| Average Price | R134.00 | R145.20 |
Price difference due to service fee
As can be seen from this comparison, Uber Eats is, on average, slightly more expensive than Mr D Food.
This is because of the 5% service fee charged on each order by Uber Eats in addition to the delivery fee, the latter of which is dependent on the location of the restaurant.
As the total amount you are spending increases, the more the service fee will rise and the greater the price difference will be between the two services.
Aside from the service fee charge, Mr D Food and Uber Eats both have similar menu pricing within their respective applications, and the flat delivery fees charged by the services were relatively similar for the restaurants we tested.