Which brand in your cloud kitchen actually makes money?

Running several brands from one kitchen is a smart way to get more from the same staff and space. But it makes one question hard to answer: which of those brands is actually worth it?

Why it is hard to see

• All brands share the same kitchen, staff and rent, so those costs are rarely split by brand.
• Each brand can have its own deal on the same platform: a different rate, different fees, different promotions.
• Platform reports often mix brands together, or show each brand's sales without its costs.
• A brand with the most orders can still leave you the least, once its platform cut and promotions are counted.

How to compare brands fairly

• Start with each brand's net sales, on each platform.
• Take off what each platform takes for that brand: its own commission, fees and funded discounts.
• Take off the costs that grow with that brand's orders, such as packaging.
• Compare what is left, brand by brand and month by month. That is the money each brand brings in to pay for the shared kitchen.

What to do with it

• Give your promotion budget to the brands that leave you most per order.
• Renegotiate, or reprice, the brand whose platform deal costs the most.
• Question a brand that keeps growing in orders but not in what it leaves you. Its menu, prices or platform terms may need to change.