Is a tiffin service profitable? The real numbers for a Canadian kitchen
A tiffin service can make a steady profit, but the margin is thinner than most people expect and it lives in a few numbers. Here's a full month worked out for an example kitchen, so you can swap in your own.
· 3 min read
An example month
A kitchen with 40 customers on a weekday lunch plan, 20 meals each a month, at $13 a meal ($260 a month). That's 800 meals.
| Per meal | Per month | |
|---|---|---|
| Money in | $13.00 | $10,400 |
| Food (30% of price) | $3.90 | $3,120 |
| Containers, bags, labels | $0.60 | $480 |
| Delivery (driver pay and fuel) | $1.25 | $1,000 |
| Kitchen rent (4 hrs × 20 days × $25) | $2.50 | $2,000 |
| Software, insurance, phone, other | $0.47 | $379 |
| Left before income tax | $4.28 | $3,421 |
That $3,421 has to pay you. If you cook, pack and run the business for 6 hours a day, that's about $28 an hour, before income tax. It's a real business, but not easy money.
The four numbers that decide profit
- Price per meal. A $1 increase on 800 meals is $800 a month, all profit. Most kitchens underprice. See how to price a tiffin service.
- Food cost %. Cooking 10% extra "to be safe" every day adds about $300 a month in this example. A cook sheet that's right stops that.
- Kitchen rent per meal. Rent is fixed, so more meals in the same hours makes each one cheaper. Going from 800 to 1,200 meals in the same kitchen time drops rent from $2.50 to $1.67 a meal.
- Customers who stay. Losing 5 customers a month and replacing them costs you time, trial discounts and marketing. Keeping them is the cheapest growth there is.
Start-up costs
| Item | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Food handler certificate | A short course, often under $100 |
| Business registration | Varies by province |
| Liability insurance | Monthly or yearly premium; get quotes |
| First containers, bags and labels | A few hundred dollars |
| Kitchen deposit or first month's hours | Depends on the kitchen |
| First groceries | One week of cooking |
Starting in a rented kitchen keeps this to a few thousand dollars. Building your own commercial kitchen can cost many times that, so it's rarely the right first step.
Track it monthly
Profit hides in small leaks. Tiffinware's reports show profit and loss, food cost %, customers who stopped and revenue by plan every month. Or track the nine numbers every tiffin kitchen should watch in a spreadsheet.
What happens as you grow
The same example kitchen at three sizes: the same price and per-meal costs ($5.75 for food, packaging and delivery), $379 a month of other costs, and 3, 4 or 6 kitchen hours a day at $25 an hour:
| Customers | Meals/month | Kitchen rent | Money in | Left before tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 400 | $1,500 | $5,200 | ≈ $1,000 |
| 40 | 800 | $2,000 | $10,400 | ≈ $3,400 |
| 80 | 1,600 | $3,000 | $20,800 | ≈ $8,200 |
Profit grows faster than customers because fixed costs (kitchen time, software, insurance) are spread over more meals. But at 80 customers you'll need a second driver and help in the kitchen, so budget for wages before you count the money.
Five ways to make more from the same customers
- Sell monthly plans, not daily orders. Fewer cancellations, less admin, and money upfront.
- Add extras. Extra rotis, a dessert on Friday, a weekend special. Small add-ons often carry the best margin.
- Charge for delivery outside your core area, or don't deliver there.
- Cook to the count. Every box you cook and nobody eats is pure loss.
- Raise prices once a year, with notice. Groceries go up; your price should follow.
Mistakes that kill the profit
- Pricing from what the kitchen down the road charges, without knowing your own food cost.
- Forgetting packaging and delivery. Together they're often $1.50–$2.50 a meal.
- Giving long free trials that customers treat as discounts.
- Not counting your own hours. A kitchen that only "profits" because the owner works for free isn't profitable yet.
- Letting unpaid plans run on. Collect before the plan starts.
Questions
How much can you earn from a tiffin service?
In the example below, 40 customers on a weekday plan leave about $3,400 a month before income tax and before paying the owner for their time. Your result depends on your price, food cost, kitchen rent and how many customers you keep.
How much investment is needed to start a tiffin service?
In a rented kitchen, a few thousand dollars covers containers, a food handler course, insurance, labels and the first groceries. Equipping your own commercial kitchen costs much more.
What's the biggest reason tiffin services lose money?
Food cost creeping up (cooking extra to be safe, rising grocery prices) and customers leaving faster than new ones join. Both are easy to miss without tracking.