by What is it?
A ghost kitchen, also known as a virtual kitchen or dark kitchen, is a commercial food preparation facility that does not have a storefront or wait staff. These kitchens are specifically designed for the preparation of delivery and take-out ordered meals. Virtual kitchen allow restaurant brands to operate virtually without the high overhead costs associated with traditional brick-and-mortar locations.
Advantages of the Virtual Kitchen Model
One of the major advantages of virtual kitchen is significantly lower startup and operational costs compared to traditional restaurants. By eliminating dining areas and front-of-house staff, real estate and labor expenses are reduced substantially. This allows restaurant operators to launch multiple virtual brands and kitchen concepts from a single facility. lower real estate and labor costs also translate to cheaper menu prices which help attract more delivery customers.
Additionally, virtual kitchen provide immense flexibility with business expansion. New restaurant brands and concepts can be tested quickly from a single kitchen space without major upfront investments. Operators can adjust menus, pricing and marketing based on customer demand and feedback. Concepts that perform well can then be rolled out into their own dedicated kitchen spaces or traditional restaurants. This nimble approach helps mitigate risks compared to opening standalone brick-and-mortar locations for untested brands.
Rise of Delivery-Only Restaurant Brands
Thanks to lower costs, virtual kitchen have enabled the rise of delivery-only restaurant brands previously not feasible with traditional operations. Popular virtual brands like Chick-fil-A, Applebee’s, IHOP and Buffalo Wild Wings now offer delivery-only menus through third party platforms like Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub without any dine-in services.
Companies like Virtual Dining Concepts have launched dozens of delivery-only brands from virtual kitchen across the US like MrBeast Burger, Mariah’s Cookies and Kendall’s Cookies. These virtual brands focus exclusively on Off-premise delivery and takeout catering to niche cravings or meal periods underserved by regular menus. The success of delivery-only concepts proves there is strong demand that can now be tapped into through low- virtual kitchen models.
Impact of COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the growth of ghost kitchens worldwide. With dining rooms forced to close due to lockdowns and restrictions, both new and established restaurants increasingly relied on delivery and takeout to stay afloat. Virtual kitchen allowed restaurants to continue food preparation and fulfill online orders while complying with social distancing norms.
In turn, consumers sheltering at home turned to delivery even more for restaurant meals. This boosted the demand for virtual brands and digital-only kitchen concepts. The pandemic validated the resilience of virtual kitchen models and shined a spotlight on their crucial role in sustaining the food industry during crises by facilitating off-premise food delivery at scale. Moving forward, virtual kitchen are expected to play an even more prominent role in restaurant operations globally.
Expansion of Third-Party Delivery Platforms
Another major factor fueling the rise of virtual kitchen is the proliferation of third-party delivery platforms. Companies like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub have invested heavily in expanding their services to smaller cities and towns. This allows restaurant operators to reach new potential customer bases without investing directly in their own delivery fleets initially.
Delivery apps cater deliveries from nearby ghost kitchens and central commissary kitchens to maximize order coverage within short time frames. In turn, this provides virtual kitchens easy access to hundreds of thousands of app users. Platforms also offer marketing support to help virtual kitchen brands gain traction. As delivery becomes more widespread globally, third-party marketplaces will drive greater demand for virtual kitchen infrastructure to fulfill orders across wider areas.
Future Outlook
The virtual kitchen model is expected to play an increasingly important role in the restaurant industry going forward. Major brands, restaurants groups, real estate developers and third-party operators are heavily investing in shared commercial kitchen facilities tailored for virtual operations. Tech platforms are also integrating new features like virtual food halls to better connect virtual kitchen with customers.
As labor and real estate costs continue rising, more traditional restaurants are utilizing ghost kitchens to test new concepts, ease expansion or supplement existing operations. Delivery demand spurred by Covid-19 is projected to remain elevated even after restrictions lift. This will ensure ongoing strong demand for virtual restaurant infrastructure. Certainly, virtual kitchen have revolutionized the food industry by lowering barriers to entry and bringing affordable food options directly to more customers nationwide. Their impact on restaurant operations is still evolving but undoubtedly here to stay.
*Note:
1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
