Demand for food delivery skyrocketed in Malta during the COVID pandemic but the continued popularity of apps such as Bolt and Wolt comes at a cost for the consumer, and the restaurants which use them.

An exercise by Times of Malta showed that customers are often being charged higher prices, in some cases around a fifth more, for ordering on food delivery apps compared to directly through the takeaway outlet, café or restaurant.

Out of 30 restaurants on the delivery apps, 16 charged a higher price on the app than at their outlet. On average, restaurants that increased their prices on the apps raised them by 15 per cent.

Fast-food restaurant Crispy Flavoured Chicken, for example, charges €17.20 on its website for a six-piece chicken bucket including fries, coleslaw and two drinks, but €21.85 through Wolt – a markup of 21 per cent.

At sushi chain Zen To Go, a salmon salad costs €14.40 on Wolt compared to €12.45 when ordering directly – a 15 per cent increase in price.

In another establishment, a pizza Capricciosa costs €10.95 on the Bolt app but just €8.50 on their website – a 23 per cent increase for having the luxury of eating the food where you want.

The price change does not include delivery fees.

One entrepreneur who owns a chain of local restaurants attributed the hike directly to covering the cost of being on the food delivery platform.

Association of Catering Establishment’s vice-president Matthew Pace said restaurants are faced with having to pay the platforms' high commission and service fees. 

Why is it more expensive?

Service and commission fees from food courier companies hover at 25 per cent of a sale and can vary depending on the agreement made with the platforms, the catering lobby vice-president said. 

Restaurants negotiate rates with Bolt and Wolt, with the service delivery charge dependent on a few factors.

A restaurant or takeaway outlet can negotiate a lower fee if they are exclusive to a particular platform.

Owning several establishments also gives restaurateurs bargaining power to haggle for a lower rate.

Higher fees are charged if an establishment chooses to be prominently placed in the app.

Offering free delivery also results in higher fees.

Restaurants negotiate rates with Bolt and Wolt, with the service delivery charge dependent on a few factors

“Establishments have had to restructure their takeaway menus to include these hefty commissions,” Pace said.

“Otherwise, they wouldn’t break even after using these third-party delivery platforms,” he said. 

But despite the cost to consumers and restaurants, the popularity of food delivery apps remains.

Bolt Food started operations in Malta in January 2020 and Wolt joined the fray in May, with the popularity of food delivery soaring in less than two years.

Around 1,000 eateries now work with food delivery apps, Pace said. 

That’s a huge proportion of the market.

Some 985 restaurants and takeaways are licensed by the Malta Tourism Authority and another 1,078 establishments are licensed as snack bars.

Andre Camilleri, the owner of a local chain of diners, said that delivery apps make up around half of his sales.

“Eateries like mine that focus on takeaways, are more reliant on the platforms,” he said.

Another restaurant owner told Times of Malta that as much as 60 per cent of its sales come through Bolt and Wolt.

Malta Hotels and Restaurant Association president Tony Zahra confirmed a significant portion of orders from the outlets he represents come from these platforms.

Even after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions by the authorities and a return to normality, Zahra said that “the demand from customers has remained so the situation is unlikely to change”.

He said that sales coming from food delivery apps are a very important but expensive segment of a restaurant’s business.  

But not everyone is getting involved in the trend.

Jesse Caruana, owner of Two Buoys, in St Julian’s, and Elephant Shoe, in Valletta, does not use delivery platforms like Bolt and Wolt. He prefers to focus on customer experience.

“The service, location and quality of the food are all part of it,” the restaurateur said, making the point that a lot of that is lost when customers opt to get food delivered.