Your customers aren't your customers.
No way to build loyalty: no usable loyalty scheme, and you end up depending on the platform to get orders at all.
Setting course for Tours — independent restaurants & food trucks
Take back 100% of your orders.
0% commission, for real.
Your dishes at your prices, your customers as your own. Captain.Food is here to give you back what the big platforms took from you.
A local, non-profit ordering platform carried by an association — built so it can never turn into a tollbooth. For the independents of Tours. We're just starting out: nothing is built yet, and it's right now that we write it together.
No commitment · 0% commission on your dishes · you keep your customers — and your current platforms.
This page speaks 17 languages — and the product will too: Captain.Food will talk to your customers in their own language.
- 0 %commission on your dishes
- 100 %of your customers — yours
- Your pricesthe same as dine-in
- 0 €signup, no strings attached
The problem
They've gone too far!
On the big platforms, every order costs you more than you think.
Commission eats your margin.
Pick your platform, enter your monthly revenue — and see where every euro goes, every month and every year.
Your regulars, though, can order direct: commission-free.
I'm taking back my orders€0 for you, no matter what — the customer contributes, not you. How we fund ourselves →
The commission math is factual: your revenue × the rate. Rates are indicative and editable: Uber Eats ~25-35%, Deliveroo ~25-30% (indicative ranges, public sources, 2024). “Employer-cost SMIC”: the monthly employer cost of a full-time SMIC (the French minimum wage) — gross SMIC of €1,867.02 as of January 1, 2026 (service-public.gouv.fr), residual employer contributions included (~€1,933). An order of magnitude, not an invoice.
On a delivered order, the commission (~30%) weighs up to 10× your net margin (~3%). You do the work, they cash in.
~3 %
is the average net margin of a restaurant — far less than the ~30% commission taken on every delivered order.
~8 000
restaurant businesses in insolvency in France in 2024 — that's +80% in two years.
Sources: ~3% average net margin (Observatoire Fiducial, UMIH/GHR/SNARR press release, June 2025); 2024 insolvencies and +80% over two years (Altares 2024, via L'Hôtellerie-Restauration/GHR). An insolvency = safeguard proceedings, receivership or liquidation; about 2 in 3 end in liquidation.
“I don't care, I just pass the commission on in my prices.”
That's what a lot of owners tell themselves. But your prices swell, customers order less — or somewhere else. Those lost orders? You never see them.
Passing the commission on doesn't cancel it. It just makes your revenue pay for it.
And if you do pass it on? Look:
Your online prices swell noticeably. Customers compare, find you more expensive, and order less — or somewhere else. Your margin looks safe on paper, but the lost sales? You never see them.
You lose on both fronts: your prices still go up (so less volume), and you swallow the other half (so less margin).
You don't set your prices.
To absorb their commission, you inflate your online prices. And you're stuck with forced promotions and algorithm changes you depend on — which hit your ranking.
The commission? We're taking it down.
0% on your dishes, always. Your margin stays in your pocket — not a platform's.
I'm taking back my orders →
Two logics, one choice
Two models, two logics
On one side, the commission gnawing at you. On the other, 0% and control of your business. You choose your course.
| Criteria | Commission-based platform |  Captain.Food |
|---|---|---|
| Commission on your dishes | 25 to 35% per order | 0 % |
| Your prices | Inflated to absorb the commission | The same as dine-in |
| Your customer base | Confiscated: you don't know who's ordering | Yours, from the very first direct order |
| Your channel | Theirs — you play by their rules | Yours, under your name |
| The rules of the game | They change, you take the hit | Locked in by a solidarity-based status (aiming for ESUS/SCIC) |
A comparison of business models, not of any particular company.
Your flag, your rules
Captain.Food: your channel, your rules
Captain.Food is a local online-ordering platform that puts you back in control. Online and at the table, under your name.
0% commission on your dishes.
You keep 100% of the price of what you sell. Always.
Your own site, under your name.
Not a listing drowned in someone else's directory: a real ordering site of your own, yourresto.captain.food, your online storefront. Included. (Want your own domain, yourresto.fr? We'll set it up for you, as an option.)
Your customer base belongs to you.
From the very first direct order, you get access to your customer base — to build loyalty and bring them back. It's yours.
Your prices, no double menu.
The same prices as dine-in. Nothing to inflate, nothing to hide.
“0% commission — so what do you live on?”
Fair question — and here's the answer, in plain words.
First, the essential: you, the restaurateur, never pay a commission on your dishes — €0, no matter what. The service isn't funded on your back.
It's funded by a customer contribution at a pay-what-you-want price, added to their order: everyone gives what they want to keep a fair alternative alive. It's a bet — that informed customers would rather support their local businesses than a multinational.
A customer doesn't contribute this time? That's fine: no contribution on that order, and still 0% commission for you. Card payment fees are the standard fees of any online payment — never a percentage on your dishes, never a surcharge added for the customer.
How we fund ourselves, in plain words →An illustrative example — a €30 order
- What you get, you €30 0% commission
- What the customer pays 32,99 €
- €30 for your dishes + a €2.99 pay-what-you-want customer contribution (example)
The customer doesn't want to contribute? That's fine, no judgment: no contribution on that order. You never pay any commission on your dishes, no matter what.
On a platform charging ~30% commission, you'd be left with only about €21 on the same order.
If it's a delivered order (a channel to come), a service cost will be added to pay the rider decently — shared with the customer and capped by the margin you set, never a commission. See how we'll pay for delivery →
Amounts shown as an example to illustrate the principle, not a price list.
One HQ, three ways to receive your orders
Your own site: yourresto.captain.food (or your own yourresto.fr). Orders will come in direct from your site — in three ways, all commission-free on your dishes. Down the line, the captain.food directory will help customers discover the independents nearby (a collective benefit to come, not an active channel today).
Delivery
Your customers order online on your site, under your name. No middleman helping themselves along the way.
How we pay for delivery →Takeaway (click and collect)
Customers order ahead and pick up on site. Simple, direct, no extra hardware.
At the table, via QR code
Customers scan and order from their seat. The order goes straight to the kitchen, and the payment stays in your usual till — we don't touch your checkout. Included, commission-free.
One tool for your whole service, instead of one more channel to manage.
⚓ Mockups · community-driven development
See what it looks like — and build it with us
Here's the mockup of the product we want to build. Nothing is built yet — and that's exactly where we need you. Try out the customer, restaurateur and rider views, then share your feedback on the community WhatsApp or via the form under each mockup.
Customer
Order from a restaurant, pay-what-you-want contribution, 0% commission.
Restaurateur
Receive orders, manage your menu, see your day at a glance.
coming soon
Rider
Delivery paid fairly — the intention, in plain words.
Under each mockup, a form to leave your feedback. We move forward together. ⚓
A course that won't drift
An alternative that can never turn into a tollbooth
Captain.Food starts from a simple conviction: digital tools should serve the public good, not be a tollbooth in the hands of a few tech giants. The problem isn't that they make money — it's that once you depend on them, they can squeeze, and nothing stops them.
So we're building in safeguards that will hold. We're aiming for accreditation as a solidarity-based social utility enterprise (ESUS, a French legal status) — a legal framework that caps profit-taking and locks in the mission — with a cooperative (SCIC) as our destination, where restaurateurs, riders and citizens will have a say. The goal: to be, by design, unable to become what we're fighting.
And so you don't have to take our word for it: we're opening our books in public on Open Collective — every euro received and spent, meant to be visible to everyone. Radical transparency, not a slogan.
Our horizon: for Captain.Food to be a digital commons, not a private asset. The code is open — on GitHub — under the Captain.Food Coopyleft license (a copyleft based on AGPL v3, in the spirit of CoopCycle), whose commercial use is reserved for social and solidarity economy structures — cooperatives and non-profits. Our course: getting it recognized as a digital public good (DPG) — so it's verifiable, and above all replicable: other cities, other cooperatives will be able to take it up. A tool for the common good is meant to be shared — not sold off. Read the manifesto →
Who is it for?
Independent restaurants
tired of working to pay someone else's commission.
Food trucks
who want a simple ordering channel, under their name, without heavy gear.
Artisans of the table
attached to their neighbourhood, their regulars, their craft.
If you're a big chain chasing maximum volume at minimum cost, we're probably not for you. If you want to take back the helm of your business, come aboard.
Home port
We're starting in Tours
Captain.Food starts here, in Tours, with a first group of restaurateurs. Not everywhere, not all at once: one territory, done right, among independents who know each other.
We're building the platform with the first restaurants to come aboard — their feedback shapes the tool. Joining now means weighing in on what Captain.Food will become.
So what does it actually ask of me?
Less than you think.
- Signing up is free, with no commitment. You keep your current platforms.
- We handle the setup. Syncing your menu, putting your page online: we walk you through it. If you don't have a sync tool yet (like HubRise), we'll help you set one up — a standard service that stays in your hands.
- No new machine to learn in a rush. We go at your pace.
Join the free restaurateurs
Leave us your contact details: we'll get back to you to walk you through Captain.Food, no commitment.
Got it ⚓ Welcome aboard!
We'll get back to you very soon. Want to chat right away?
Or write to us at miam@captain.food.
The questions we get asked
Everything restaurateurs ask us — in plain words, no dodging.
It's free for me — so what do you live on?
For you: 0% commission on your dishes, free signup, no matter what. The service is funded by a pay-what-you-want customer contribution, added to their order in full transparency (€0 is fine, no judgment) — never by you. Card payment fees are the standard banking fees of any online payment, never a surcharge added for the customer. See the full details, worked example included.
What about what my customers pay at the till?
Whatever goes through your usual till (on site, at the counter), we don't touch: it's free, full stop — outside our flow. The contribution only applies to orders paid online through Captain.Food.
And the cost of delivery — who'll pay for it?
Delivery will be a future channel, not active yet. The idea: pay the rider properly (we're aiming for at least €7 per ride). You'd only chip in on your delivered orders, up to what your margin allows — you'd set your floor, and we'd never go below it. The customer would pay the difference, transparently. Never a commission on your dishes. See the math in detail, worked example included.
Do I have to leave Uber Eats / Deliveroo?
No. Captain.Food comes on top, with no exclusivity. Many restaurants keep both and see Captain.Food as their direct channel — the one they control.
There are no customers on the platform yet — why sign up now?
Because it costs you nothing and you give up no exclusivity. You get listed, you recover your customer base from your first direct orders, and you shape the tool while we're starting out. The first ones aboard are the ones who weigh the most.
How do I get my customers back?
Every order placed directly on your page belongs to you: you get access to your customers' contact details (with their consent) to build loyalty yourself. Unlike the big platforms, we don't confiscate your customer base.
What's an ESUS company?
ESUS stands for “entreprise solidaire d'utilité sociale” — a solidarity-based social utility enterprise, a French accreditation that legally caps profit-taking and requires a social purpose. It's the course we're aiming for — a guarantee, in time, that Captain.Food can never drift into what we denounce.
What about ordering at the table (QR code)?
Two cases. If the customer pays at the till or on site, it's outside our flow: 100% free, we don't touch it. If they pay online via the QR code, a pay-what-you-want contribution can be added, just like for an online order. In every case, under your name, and 0% commission on your dishes.
How many languages do you speak — for my customers, for me, for the riders?
17, to start with — the ones spoken around us. This page already speaks them all (try the switcher at the top). And the product will hold the same course: your customers' ordering site, your restaurateur space and, in time, the riders' app. Everyone in their own language — your customer orders in Thai or Arabic, you work in yours.