The covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a drastic shift in customer’s purchasing habits, with most turning to the internet for their shopping needs. as a result, delivery businesses such as talabat and akeed have witnessed drastic growth and a shift in customer purchasing habits. at the very same time sales for traditional dine-in restaurants around the world have plummeted, and in most cases only those with established delivery services have managed to make ends meet. as a result, most formerly traditional dine-in establishments, and brands, as well as enterprising entrepreneurs are trying to capitalise on the boost in off-premises and home delivery business and are going all-in on the concept of ghost kitchens and virtual restaurants.
So, What Are Ghost Kitchens?
Ghost kitchens are effectively professional cooking facilities created for the preparation of delivery-only meals. They enable restaurants to rapidly start delivering food to their customers without having to worry about dine-in facilities. Some have even gone so far as to establish virtual brands, which are a delivery-only food brand that’s sold exclusively online and through delivery apps. To be fair, the entire restaurant industry is still trying to define the concept of a Ghost Kitchen or Virtual Restaurant, with names such as ‘dark kitchen’, ‘virtual kitchen’, and even ‘cloud kitchen’ cropping up. These names are however reasonably interchangeable, and the concept is widely the same – to have a dedicated facility for preparing food, with a full-fledged virtual menu in the cloud, and no on-premises dining facilities.
Why Are They Becoming So Popular?
Delivery-only business has been a priority for most prominent businesses for some time now, and the pandemic has only served to boost its importance and development thanks to food delivery is exploding in popularity. But even on just a value perspective, its easy to understand the appeal of a ghost kitchen. They effectively cut-out the costs of running a dine-in facility. The includes a significant reduction in rent and labour. Furthermore, while deliveries are difficult to do well for a restaurant on its own, the rise in third-party delivery services have made this an easy workaround.
Will the Trend Last?
This is hard to say. On one hand there is definitely a market for such a business model but without the backing of a reliable brand, earning the trust of customers and ensuring success will not be easy. Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that ghost kitchens will outright replace traditional restaurants. There is an inherent joy and satisfaction with going out with your family and friends, away from one’s home for a meal, where you are served food fresh out of the kitchen.