'The pizza firms slicing a 900% profit off your delivery: 1.25 to make a Margherita... but you pay 12.49'

BySean Poulter for the Daily Mail Updated: 01:58, 26 March 2011

Making a lot of dough: A deluxe pizza includes around 1.93 of ingredients but you'll pay 17.99

Pizza delivery firms are cashing in with a price mark-up of up to 900 per cent, industry insiders have revealed.

Sales are rising at a time when more people are trying to save money by eating in rather than dining out.

Yet customers may be unaware that while they are being charged 12.49 for a large cheese and tomato Margherita pizza, it has been made with ingredients costing just 1.25.

Some of the 900 per cent mark-up can be explained by the fact the Government takes its own cut, with VAT at 20 per cent.

The firms also have other costs, including rent, rates and wages.

But leaked details of the prices paid by the major pizza chains for their ingredients demonstrate how there is still huge money to be made.

The figures relate to Britain's biggest home delivery pizza chain, Domino's - where profits rose by 27.3 per cent in 2010 to 38million - but are typical for the industry.

All the ingredients are bought in bulk and so are cheaper than if they were bought on the high street.

THE MARK-UPS THAT LEAVE A SOUR TASTE Cheese & Tomato - Large (13.5in) Base 55p Sauce (1 ladle = 170g) 14p Cheese (154g) 56p Cost price E1.25 Retail price E12.49 Profit E11.23 (900%) Deluxe - Large (13.5in) Toppings at 39g each Onions 4p Green peppers 13p Pepperoni 19p Pork sausage 21p Mushrooms 11p Toppings total 68p Cost price E1.93 Retail price E17.99 Profit E16.06 (832%)