An investigation by the Mail On Sunday has uncovered a surprising practice in the fast-food delivery world. Customers ordering from high-end national restaurant brands might be receiving meals actually prepared by budget takeaways instead.

Many diners, eager to enjoy a £14.75 gyro wrap from The Athenian, a £16 ‘Double Taxidriver’ from Gourmet Burger Kitchen, or an £11.50 ‘Nashville Hot’ fried chicken burger from Coqfighters, are likely unaware that their meals could have been pre-cooked and simply reheated at a local burger joint, curry house, or fish and chip shop.

These dishes are often ordered through platforms like Deliveroo, Just Eat, or Uber Eats, and arrive encased in branded packaging, reinforcing the impression they were freshly prepared by the upscale restaurant itself.

This business model, while completely legal, is orchestrated by franchising company Growth Kitchens. The company licenses premium fast-food brands to local takeaways, which then sell these meals through delivery apps while offering their usual, typically cheaper, menu to walk-in patrons.

However, this practice is sparking growing concern among consumer protection groups. Critics argue it lacks transparency, leads to inflated prices, and potentially undermines the viability of traditional brick-and-mortar dining establishments.

The system is causing mounting concern among consumer protection organisations over its lack of transparency, inflated pricing and the undermining of traditional bricks-and-mortar restaurants.

The Mail On Sunday has identified fast-food shops across the country which act as so-called ‘dark’ or ‘ghost’ kitchens for high-end chains. According to the Growth Kitchens website, some cook for three or four different brands and ‘in many cases the meals can be prepared in two minutes’.

At Uncle Don’s Fish & Chips in Warrington, Cheshire, adverts promoted menu items from The Athenian – slogan: ‘Like Athens. But here.’ A counter assistant said orders could only be placed online through Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber, adding that Coqfighter fried chicken would be available in future.

Reporter Lydia Veljanovski with a Coqfighters chicken burger created at The Little Kebab House in Isle of Dogs, east London

Lots of takeaways only allow dishes to be ordered on apps such as Deliveroo and Just Eats

Asked how the kitchen managed to prepare two types of premium fast food as well as traditional fish and chips, she replied: ‘It’s like a franchise.’

But she claimed to know nothing about the recipes, ingredients and cooking instructions, insisting that ‘the owner deals with all that’.

We later ordered a £12.95 Athenian gyro meal deal from Uncle Don’s through Just Eat, taking delivery 30 minutes later nearby in packaging branded with The Athenian’s logo.

The price was in sharp contrast to Uncle Don’s own fare – spam fritter (£2.90), chip barm (£3.80), steak pudding (£3.70), fish and chips (£9.50) and seasoned halloumi (£7). It was a similar story in Plymouth where Deliveroo promised all Athenian menu items within 20 to 30 minutes – though the chain has only seven physical restaurants, the nearest of which is 120 miles away in Bristol.

We established that our chosen £14.95 grilled halloumi box, containing four slices of Greek halloumi, pita bread and a handful of chips along with shredded cabbage, red onion and sliced tomato, was being cooked by an Asian curry and burger takeaway calling itself Baba Wok UNO Street Food.

Inside, a young assistant told us that we could order The Athenian’s food only via apps. Her own takeaway menu was far cheaper – dishes include chicken curry (£6.50), prawn fried rice (£7.50), cheeseburger (£7.99), boneless wings (£6.99) and doner kebab burrito (£8).

She said she did not know how the franchise worked but insisted she sourced ingredients and prepared food in line with The Athenian’s instructions.

We ordered our halloumi box through Deliveroo, which described the location of her kitchen as Athenian Plymouth. We then watched it being collected from Baba Wok before we received it 200 yards away in an Athenian-branded cardboard box with a receipt marked ‘Deliveroo The Athenian’.

Reporter Luke Alsford has a Gourmet Burger Kitchen beef burger delivered by a food delivery service. The burger was prepared and cooked by The Athenian Souvlaki & Gyros in Beckenham, south London

Coqfighter meals were actually prepared by several kitchens, including a waffle and pancake restaurant

Elsewhere, Coqfighters fans in Leatherhead, Surrey, can enjoy all their favourite chicken dishes via delivery apps – tenders (£8.50), roast chicken (£13.50), wings (£10), wraps (£8.50) and a chicken sandwich meal for one (£18).

The Coqfighters website boasts it comprises ‘just three guys and their love for chicken in all its glorious forms’.

In Leatherhead that chicken is cooked by waffle and pancakes specialists Dutch Delights. Its menu includes pancakes (£4.99), waffles (£7.99), sorbet (£6.49) and Biscoff cookie (£7.49). Another reporter was able to order a Coqfighters chicken burger over the counter in The Little Kebab House in Isle of Dogs, east London.

In Crawley, West Sussex, our hunt for a Gourmet Burger Kitchen burger took us to the Italian-themed Caramello Coffee & Gelato, which sells its own burgers (from £5.99), fries (£1.99), chicken wrap (£4.99), chicken burger (£5.89) and Coca-Cola (£2.99). Ordering similar GBK items at Caramello via a delivery app produced a spike in prices – beef burger (£10.95), cheese burger (£11.95), burger meal deal including fries and drink (£16.45), fries £4.50 and Coca-Cola £3.99.

GBK, part of the Boparan Restaurant Group, describes itself as the ‘home of the original gourmet burger since way back in 2001. We’ve stood up for what burgers were born to be. Juicy, delicious, handcrafted pieces of joy’.

One app delivery driver, who The Mail On Sunday has agreed not to name, told us the Growth Kitchens franchise is hurting local takeaways.

He said: ‘Since Covid, ghost kitchens have taken over massively. Brands approach shops promising to provide ingredients and the training, but insist that the shop can’t sell their product over the counter – they must use apps.

‘This hurts local businesses more than it benefits it. The public thinks it is a physical store, but in reality it is all online.

‘A chunk of revenue is being taken out of the local area. A large amount of money goes to the brand, or apps like Deliveroo, rather than the local store.

‘The Government will maybe have to intervene on this. If we make a sale of £100 for example, we’ll be left with £15 before tax.

‘The issue we face is that if a neighbouring takeaway does it, we have to do it. Otherwise we’ll be driven out of business.’

The Mail On Sunday assigned reporters as ‘mystery shoppers’ after it became apparent that Growth Kitchens had sent a ‘memo’ to franchisees instructing them not to speak to us.

However, Mate Kun, the company’s chief executive and co-founder told us customers ‘ultimately care’ about highly rated reviews, and restaurants which cook fast, deliver on time and ensure all ordered items are present.

He said: ‘That is our focus. As long as we deliver that and the food is exactly the same as the brand intended, people will love it.

‘We would love to make it even more transparent. It is important people understand where their food is coming from, and I as a consumer would not have any concerns if I knew the food is exactly the same as when I walk into a restaurant. It has just happened to come from a dark kitchen or a place where the brands are being efficiently cooked next to each other by staff members.

‘If that is the only way the food can arrive to me if I choose to live in Surrey, where there is a less dense population… I would be pretty happy with that.’

The Growth Kitchens website tells franchise-holders: ‘Our brands are engineered for delivery operations with simple cooking and negligible food waste.

‘They come with bespoke, high-quality ingredients, precooked by us.

‘You will just heat and assemble them into the final product. In many cases the meals can be prepared in two minutes.

‘Some of our best operators realise that our brands bring larger sales and profits than their own. They tend to cook three to four brands and often choose to open a storefront with one or multiple brands.

‘You will be charged a percentage of your sales, exactly the same way as delivery apps charge for your own brand.

‘This includes the brand franchise fees and delivery app fees. We handle all payments and you will be paid every week on Friday.’

The Athenian, Coqfighters and Gourmet Burger Kitchen have been contacted for comment.

Additional reporting by Luke Alsford