You may have heard the terms "cloud kitchen", "dark kitchen" or "ghost kitchen" floating around over the last year or so, with the incredible pivot that many restaurants were able to do during 2020. But what does it all mean, and are there still opportunities to grow your business using ideas from these concepts?
A ghost kitchen (also known as a dark kitchen, cloud kitchen, or virtual kitchen) is a food preparation and cooking facility set up for the preparation of takeaway or delivery-only meals. It is not a restaurant brand in itself but may contain kitchen facilities and space for more than one restaurant brand. These kitchens may operate inside existing restaurants within commercial kitchens.
These virtual kitchens emerged in response to the increase in demand for delivery services both due to with and outside of lockdown restrictions imposed on dining in response to the pandemic. Brisbane favourites Happy Boy started Kid Curry during the first lockdown and are now preparing to launch in a permanent location due to its popularity.
Ease the pressure on your restaurant kitchen during peak services by moving delivery order fulfilment off-site, allowing your kitchen team to focus on the best experience for your guests who are dining in.
Increase your delivery range by using a suburban commercial kitchen where there is demand or try out an entirely different location without the risk. If you have a great social following, start your location research there!
Try out concepts for new venues or menus without the overheads of starting a brand new bricks-and-mortar location, especially for cuisines that travel well or are on-trend. Make the most of the flavours of the moment. If you have a market stall on the weekends, this concept is perfect for when your customers crave the goods at other times.
Use the quiet times in your existing kitchen to launch a secondary brand to test new ideas and markets. If you're only open for dinner you could test a new offering over breakfast or lunch and bring in extra income along the way.
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