Costs and pricing
Part of Food creator partnership costs for UK restaurants: the five cost layers, VAT and a sample budget
Worked cost of a two-creator food campaign in England
A worked cost for a two-creator food campaign in England: creator fees, usage rights, paid boosting, travel and VAT, added up line by line.
What to take away
- Fix the deliverables before any rate, then price every line against that scope.
- The example has five linestwo creator fees, a usage rights uplift, a boosting budget and travel with samples.
- The illustrative total is £1,545, before staff time and VAT.
- Boosting buys reach at auction, so set the sum in advance.
- Check VAT and payment terms on every invoice before you commit.
Fix the deliverables before any rate
Write the deliverables down first, because a rate only means something against a defined output. The example uses two micro creators, one reel each, plus a few stories. State that scope in a deliverable list before any fee is discussed, since scope creep is where budgets break.
A small independent restaurant is the buyer here, and every figure that follows is illustrative. None is a quote from a named creator or agency. The numbers show how the lines stack up, so replace each one with a written quote before you commit.
Lines one and two: the creator fees
Pick each fee from the creator's tier. Micro creators, with 10,000 to 50,000 followers, run at £250 to £600 per deliverable in rates last reviewed in 2025. Creator A is £500 for one reel and two stories; Creator B is £400 for one reel and three stories.
| Creator tier | Typical following | Typical fee per deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Nano | 1,000 to 10,000 | £75 to £250 |
| Micro | 10,000 to 50,000 | £250 to £600 |
| Mid tier | 50,000 to 250,000 | £600 to £1,500 |
Rates vary with audience size and niche. A micro creator with a local following usually quotes less than a national account, but the gap narrows once usage rights are added. Both fees here sit inside the micro band, so neither needs a change of tier.
Line three: usage rights
Usage rights are priced apart from the fee. Running a creator's video as a paid ad, or keeping it on your menu page for a year, means a licence charge. In the example the uplift is £225, which is 25% of the two fees combined.
Base fee vs usage rights
Base fee only
- Reel fee
- £600
- Usage uplift
- None
- Six-month licence
- Not included
- Total payable
- £600
With paid usage
- Reel fee
- £600
- Usage uplift
- 25%
- Six-month licence
- Included
- Total payable
- £750–£900
A common structure is a percentage uplift on the base fee, for example 25%, for paid usage over a fixed term. Ask what term the uplift buys and whether it covers paid use, owned channels or both, then write the answer into the contract.
Line four: paid boosting
Budget a fixed sum for boosting rather than hoping for reach. Organic reach is not guaranteed, so a wider local audience means paying the platform, and both Instagram and TikTok sell reach by auction. The example sets aside £300. Targeting and bidding competition decide what that buys.
Where amplification money goes
- Organic reach not guaranteed
- Pay platform for wider local audience
- LinkedIn: auction sets price
- TikTok: credits offset initial spend
- Treat credits as discount, not budget line
Treat any published benchmark as a starting point. Published UK ranges put Instagram feed boosting at about £4 to £9 per thousand impressions and TikTok at about £3 to £7, before targeting, season and creative are priced in. TikTok credits for new advertisers can offset part of an initial spend, but they are a discount, not a budget line.
Line five: travel, samples and reshoots
Set aside a small line for the physical costs of the shoot. A creator travelling to your site needs parking, transport or a taxi, and any specific dishes come out of your food cost. The example allows £120 for travel and samples.
If the first cut misses the brief, a reshoot may be chargeable unless the contract says otherwise. Agree the reshoot terms before filming starts. Our piece on hidden costs in England puts a typical one day shoot add-on at £100 to £250.
Add the lines up
Put the five lines in one table and the total follows without guesswork.
| Line | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Creator A fee | £500 | One reel and two stories |
| Creator B fee | £400 | One reel and three stories |
| Usage rights uplift | £225 | 25% of the two fees |
| Paid boosting | £300 | Fixed sum set before launch |
| Travel and samples | £120 | Site visit and dishes |
| Illustrative total | £1,545 | Before staff time and VAT |
That total excludes staff time, and internal time has a cost even when no invoice arrives, because someone has to brief, chase, approve and report. Double the creator count and the total roughly doubles, so state the deliverables in the brief before any rate is agreed.
VAT, payment terms and old rates
The figures also exclude VAT. The standard VAT rate is 20%, and a VAT-registered creator adds it to the fee. A restaurant that cannot reclaim VAT carries that cost. Applying 20% to the whole total would lift the example to about £1,854, so check which invoices carry VAT.
VAT is one of several layers beyond the creator fee. The wider cost layers set out where it sits beside platform charges and the data protection fee, and how a restaurant should treat creator invoices when it builds a budget.
Payment terms affect cash flow more than the headline fee. A common split is half upfront and half on delivery. Thirty day invoice terms push the second payment into the following month, so cash leaves before the campaign is measured.
Costs agreed last year are not the costs you face now. The Office for National Statistics publishes measures of inflation and prices, including consumer price inflation, so check them before you review a rate card.
Before you sign
- The deliverables for each creator are written down.
- Each fee sits in the right tier and has a written quote.
- The usage term and channels are named in the contract.
- The boosting sum is fixed before launch.
- Travel, samples and reshoot terms are agreed.
- VAT and payment terms are checked on every invoice.
Common questions
What does a small two-creator food campaign cost?
In this illustrative example it comes to £1,545 before staff time and VAT. Treat that as a pattern, not a quote, and replace each line with a written quote from the creators you approach.
Is boosting part of the creator fee?
No. Boosting money goes to the platform, and the fee pays the creator for agreed output. Set the boosting sum separately, because Instagram and TikTok sell reach by auction and the price moves.
What happens to the total if I add more creators?
Double the creator count and the total roughly doubles. State the deliverables in the brief before any rate is agreed, and agree what counts as success before the shoot.
