Most Kenyan food sellers already take orders on WhatsApp. The cooking is not the hard part. The hard part is everything around the order: sending the menu again and again, matching M-Pesa messages to orders, getting delivery right, and having the papers the county health officers ask for. This guide covers the three ways to take food orders online, what the delivery apps charge, how to set up your menu and payment, and the licences a food business needs. Every number has a source at the bottom of the page.
Three ways to take food orders online
| WhatsApp and calls | Delivery apps (Uber Eats, Glovo, Bolt Food) | Your own menu link | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who brings the customer | You | The app | You |
| What you pay per order | M-Pesa charges only | A commission (see below) | A payment fee, plus any monthly plan |
| Who delivers | You or your rider | The app's riders, or yours | You, your rider, or the customer picks up |
| Who keeps the customer's contact | You | The app | You |
| Menu and prices | Typed or sent as a photo each time | Inside the app | One link, always up to date |
Many sellers use more than one. An app can bring new customers. Your own link and WhatsApp keep the regulars, so they don't have to order through the app.
What delivery apps charge restaurants in Kenya
Uber Eats is the only one of the three that publishes its Kenya rates. Its merchant pricing page says the plans shown are "only available in Kenya" and lists:
| Uber Eats option | Fee per order |
|---|---|
| Uber's riders deliver | 30% (the page shows 33% for Uber One members) |
| Your own riders deliver | 15% |
| The customer picks up | 14% |
| Uber Direct (delivery only) | A fee per delivery, no commission |
The page does not say whether VAT is added on top.
Glovo and Bolt Food do not publish a Kenya commission rate that we could find. Restaurants agree the rate when they sign up. The Kenyan figure you will see quoted most is old: in 2020, The Elephant reported that a restaurant could pay up to 30% of the cost of each meal to a delivery platform. Treat that as a rough guide, not today's price, and get the rate in writing before you sign.
One change to watch: in July 2026 Uber agreed to buy Delivery Hero, the company that owns Glovo. HapaKenya reports the deal is expected to close in late 2027 and the Competition Authority of Kenya is expected to review it. Until then, Glovo, Uber Eats and Bolt Food remain separate competitors.
What a KSh 1,000 order leaves you
| How the order came in | Fee | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| Uber Eats, Uber's rider delivers (30%) | KSh 300 | KSh 700 |
| Uber Eats, your own rider delivers (15%) | KSh 150 | KSh 850, before paying your rider |
| Uber Eats, customer picks up (14%) | KSh 140 | KSh 860 |
| Customer pays your M-Pesa till directly (0.55%) | KSh 5.50 | KSh 994.50 |
| Your own online menu with a 1.5% payment fee | KSh 15 | KSh 985 |
If you list on an app, check whether your app prices need to be higher than your shop prices to cover the commission.
Set up a menu people can order from
A good online menu answers the questions customers usually ask in DMs, before they ask them.
- One clear photo per dish, taken in daylight. A phone is enough: see how to take product photos with a phone.
- A price on every dish, and on every extra. "+ Chapati KSh 20" or "+ extra beef KSh 100" stops the back-and-forth about what costs what.
- How long food takes. A line like "Ready in 20–30 min" sets the right expectation.
- Opening hours. Don't take orders when the kitchen is closed. A customer who pays at 11 pm and hears nothing will not order again.
- Sold-out dishes. If you make 30 portions of pilau, stop selling at 30.
- Delivery areas and fees. List the estates you deliver to, with the fee for each, and say if customers can pick up.
- Start with a short menu. Your best ten dishes are easier to photograph, price and keep in stock than forty.
Get paid before you cook
Food cooked for an order that is never collected is money lost. Take payment by M-Pesa before you start cooking. Keep pay on delivery for regular customers you trust.
If customers pay into your Lipa na M-PESA Buy Goods till, Safaricom's charges from 7 August 2026 are:
| Payment size | What you pay | What the customer pays |
|---|---|---|
| Up to KSh 500 | Nothing | Nothing |
| KSh 501 to KSh 36,363 | 0.55% | Nothing |
| Above that | KSh 200 maximum | Nothing |
Check exact amounts in the M-Pesa charges calculator. No till yet? See how to get an M-Pesa till number and till vs Pochi vs PayBill.
The weak point of a till on its own is matching. On a busy evening you have ten M-Pesa messages and ten WhatsApp chats, and you have to work out who paid for what. A checkout where the customer pays as part of the order removes that step.
Delivery
Hot meals need to travel short distances fast. Most small kitchens use their own rider or a boda rider they trust, with a fixed fee per estate shown before the customer pays. Keep the area small enough that food arrives warm.
When your rider is busy, Uber's Kenya merchant page also lists Uber Direct, which charges a fee per delivery and no commission. Ask Uber whether it covers your area.
Packed foods that keep, such as baked goods, snacks, spices or honey, can go by parcel network. With Pickup Mtaani, sending from the Nairobi CBD to an agent in an estate cost KSh 139.20 on 1 October 2026. See our Pickup Mtaani guide.
Whatever you send, use clean, sealed packaging. Under the Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act, anyone who sells, prepares, packages, conveys, stores or displays food for sale under insanitary conditions commits an offence. "Conveys" covers delivery.
Licences and health papers for food sellers
Food licensing is a county job. The Constitution's Fourth Schedule gives counties the "licensing and control of undertakings that sell food to the public". So the exact papers and fees depend on your county. This is what to expect.
1. Food hygiene licence
The Food Hygiene Regulations say no one may use any premises to sell, prepare, package, store or display food for sale without a licence. The licence is only issued once the health authority is satisfied that the premises comply, and it expires on 31 December each year.
Before issuing it, public health officers inspect. The Ministry of Health's food hygiene licensing checklist covers floors and walls that are easy to clean, hand-washing points with hot and cold running water, waste bins and collection, pest control, fire equipment, storage, and the food handlers themselves.
Cooking from home? The regulation speaks of "any premises". Ask your county's public health office how they treat a home kitchen before you start selling.
2. A medical certificate for every food handler
The same regulations require the person in charge to keep anyone with a communicable disease, or with boils, sores or infected wounds, away from work where they could contaminate food, and to apply to the health authority for a medical examination of all staff. The Ministry of Health checklist says food handlers should be medically examined, hold valid certificates and be trained in basic food hygiene, and that the certificates should be kept at the premises for inspection.
In Nairobi, the 2026 Finance Act sets the charge at KSh 1,000 per food handler's medical certificate. The Standard reported in May 2026 that fake food handlers' certificates were circulating in Nairobi, so get yours through the county, not an agent.
3. Business permit and fire charge
In Nairobi, the trade licence for food businesses is set by type and size in the Nairobi City County Finance Act, 2026, and a separate annual fire charge comes on top:
| Type of food business (the Act's wording) | Trade licence | Fire charge | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eating house, snack bar or tea house, no lodging or alcohol, up to 5 seats | KSh 15,000 | KSh 4,500 | KSh 19,500 |
| Same, 6–20 seats | KSh 25,000 | KSh 10,000 | KSh 35,000 |
| Same, 21–50 seats | KSh 30,000 | KSh 20,000 | KSh 50,000 |
| Same, over 50 seats | KSh 40,000 | KSh 25,000 | KSh 65,000 |
| Outside catering, 1 employee | KSh 5,000 | KSh 2,000 | KSh 7,000 |
| Outside catering, 2–3 employees | KSh 10,000 | KSh 2,000 | KSh 12,000 |
| Commercial kitchen, up to 4 employees | KSh 10,000 | KSh 6,000 | KSh 16,000 |
| Commercial kitchen, 5–20 employees | KSh 20,000 | KSh 12,000 | KSh 32,000 |
Restaurants with a bar, and larger caterers and kitchens, have their own higher bands. The same Act also lets Nairobi refuse a trade licence if the applicant has not complied with the health, hygiene and safety laws for that trade. So sort out the hygiene licence and certificates first. The invoice you get after the county's assessment is the figure that counts. For other counties, and for how to apply, see our business permit guide.
4. Penalties
Where the Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act sets no special penalty, a first offence can bring a fine of up to KSh 500,000, up to two years in prison, or both.
5. Tax
KRA's eTIMS is free. From 1 January 2026, KRA checks the income and expenses in tax returns against eTIMS records. If you cater for offices or companies, they will want an eTIMS invoice from you. See eTIMS for small sellers.
Price dishes so the fees don't eat your profit
For each dish, add up the ingredients, packaging, gas or charcoal, and the payment or app fee. Charge delivery separately, by area, so a far-away order doesn't cost you money. If you are on an app at 30%, a dish that makes a profit in your shop can make a loss in the app. The profit margin calculator does the sum for you.
Where duka.bio helps
Duka gives your kitchen its own menu link, yourname.duka.bio, that customers order and pay from. See how it works for restaurants and home cooks.
- Free plan, no cut of your orders. A 1.5% payment fee as the money comes in. You are paid out to your M-Pesa number, till or bank two days after payment; weekend payouts arrive on Monday.
- Opening hours. Outside them your menu shows "Closed now · Opens at …" and orders are refused.
- "Ready in 20–30 min" on your menu, and extras such as "+ Chapati KSh 20", priced automatically.
- Stock that sells out. Leave the stock box empty and a dish never runs out; put a number and it sells out when they are gone.
- Your own delivery areas, each with its own fee, or pickup. Pay on delivery only if you switch it on.
- A banner line for today's offer, receipts, and a customers list with a WhatsApp button.
- Import dishes from your Instagram posts.
- Order alerts by email, or a WhatsApp alert for every order on the Starter plan (KSh 999/month).