September 03, 2026

Pricing Your Doner Kebab Menu: A Step-by-Step Approach

Setting the right prices for your doner kebabs is one of the most crucial decisions you'll make as a takeaway owner. Price too high, and you risk driving away customers. Price too low, and you could be working hard for very little profit. Finding that sweet spot is essential for a sustainable, thriving business. This guide provides a clear, step-by-step approach on how to price a kebab menu, ensuring you cover your costs, attract customers, and maximise your profitability.

Step 1: Calculate Your Exact Food Costs

Before you can price anything, you must know exactly how much each menu item costs to produce. This is your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). Guessing is not an option; you need to be precise. Break down your most popular item, the classic doner kebab, into every single component:

The Meat: This is your star ingredient. Calculate the cost per gram of your doner meat. Working with a quality supplier like Elite Doner Kebabs ensures you get a consistent, high-yield product, making these calculations more reliable. If a 10kg spit costs you £X and you serve 100g portions, you can determine the exact cost per serving.
The Bread: Whether you use pitta bread, naan, or a tortilla wrap, factor in the cost of a single unit.
The Salad: Don't just lump "salad" together. Calculate the cost of the lettuce, tomato, onion, red cabbage, and any other vegetables you offer, based on the average portion size you serve.
The Sauces: Chilli, garlic, mint yoghurt – every drop has a cost. Calculate the cost per serving for each sauce.
The Packaging: This includes foil wrap, paper bags, napkins, and carrier bags. These costs add up and must be included in the price of the final product.

Add up the cost of every single component to get the total cost of one complete doner kebab. For example, your calculation might look like this: Meat (£1.20) + Pitta (£0.25) + Salad (£0.35) + Sauces (£0.15) + Packaging (£0.10) = £2.05 total cost per kebab.

Step 2: Understand Your Overheads

Your food cost is only part of the equation. You also have significant overheads—the fixed and variable costs of simply keeping your doors open. These include:

Rent and business rates
Gas, electricity, and water
Staff wages, National Insurance, and pension contributions
Insurance
Marketing and advertising
EPOS system subscriptions and card machine fees
Cleaning supplies and general maintenance

These overheads must be covered by your gross profit (the difference between your selling price and your food cost). While you don't add them to each individual item's cost, understanding them helps you set a realistic target for your overall food cost percentage.

Step 3: Determine Your Target Food Cost Percentage

Food cost percentage is a key metric in the catering industry. The formula is: (Total Cost of Item / Selling Price) x 100. For most fast-food and takeaway businesses in the UK, a healthy food cost percentage is between 25% and 35%.

Let's use our example from Step 1, where the kebab costs £2.05 to make. If you aim for a 30% food cost, the calculation to find your menu price is: Total Cost of Item / Target Food Cost Percentage = Menu Price.

So, £2.05 / 0.30 = £6.83. This gives you a data-driven starting point. You would likely round this up to a more customer-friendly price like £6.90 or £6.99.

This method ensures that for every kebab you sell, roughly 30% of the price covers the ingredients, leaving the remaining 70% (your gross profit) to cover all your overheads and, most importantly, generate net profit.

Step 4: Research Your Competitors and Local Market

Pricing cannot be done in a vacuum. Once you have your cost-based price, you need to see how it fits within your local market. This research is a vital part of learning how to price a kebab menu successfully.

Take a walk and check out the menus of other kebab shops in your area. What are they charging for a similar doner kebab? What about their portion sizes, meal deals, and the overall quality of their shop? Don't just aim to be the cheapest. If you are using superior, halal-certified meat from a trusted supplier and offering fresher salad and better service, you can justify a higher price point. Your price sends a message about your quality. Position yourself correctly in the market based on the value you provide.

Step 5: Apply Menu Psychology and Strategy

How you present your prices can influence what customers buy. Small psychological tweaks can lead to a significant increase in revenue.

Combo Deals: Bundle a kebab, chips, and a drink into a meal deal. This is a classic upselling technique that increases the average spend per customer. The perceived value for the customer is high, and it simplifies their choice.
Tiered Pricing: Offer Small, Regular, and Large options. This gives customers a sense of control. Most people will avoid the cheapest option and choose the middle one, allowing you to guide them towards a more profitable sale.
Charm Pricing: Ending a price with .99 or .95 (e.g., £7.99 instead of £8.00) is a long-established retail trick. It makes the price seem significantly lower to the brain, even though it's only a penny's difference.
Minimise Currency Symbols: Some studies suggest that simply using numbers (e.g., "7.99" instead of "£7.99") can make customers feel like they are spending less.

Step 6: Review and Adjust Regularly

Finally, remember that your menu pricing is not a one-time task. Supplier prices for ingredients, energy costs, and packaging fluctuate. You should review your COGS and your menu prices at least every six months, or whenever you face a significant price increase from a supplier. Being proactive about this prevents your profit margins from slowly eroding over time.

This structured approach simplifies how to price a kebab menu, moving it from a guessing game to a strategic business decision. By thoroughly understanding your costs, your market, and your customers, you can build a profitable menu that stands the test of time. At Elite Doner Kebabs, we're committed to providing the consistent, high-quality product that serves as the foundation for your success.