In research from the National Restaurant Association, casual dining restaurants increased off-premise sales by 70% as a result of COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Takeout has always been a part of American life. But today, it\u2019s even more than that \u2013 takeout is ingrained into the way we live and eat. 64% of millennials<\/a> say purchasing delivery food is essential, and 68% of adults<\/a> say they purchase more takeout now than before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But will those numbers stick? Industry leaders (like Texas Roadhouse CEO Kent Taylor<\/a>) seem to say, overwhelmingly, yes<\/em>. While on-premise dining will eventually regain popularity, the demand for delivery will stay strong. The advanced ease and convenience now offered by food vendors is a permanent fixture in the restaurant market.<\/p>\n\n\n Read more about the future of online ordering<\/a>, and help your business stay ahead of the digital curve.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n Simply put, ghost kitchens are purpose-built for preparing delivery orders, while brick-and-mortar restaurants are designed for on-premise customers. Cooking delivery orders in a brick-and-mortar restaurant is almost like trying to make coffee in your home kitchen while someone else is cooking. While it\u2019s viable and even common, it often doesn\u2019t maximize efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brick and mortars restaurants typically have a front-of-house staff to process orders, payments, and food. Ghost kitchens, however, rely on technology to automate those purposes, therefore cutting down on labor costs. They use kitchen display systems<\/a> to view online ordering<\/a> in real time for a streamlined workflow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step to setting up a ghost kitchen is finding the right rental space. Figuring out what kind of kitchen you\u2019ll need based on your brand will determine your ideal kitchen type and size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step to setting up a ghost kitchen is finding the right rental space. Figuring out what kind of kitchen you\u2019ll need based on your brand will determine your ideal kitchen type and size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll also need to set up the right technology to support your workflow and services. Online ordering, contactless payment, and kitchen displays are all essential to building a successful ghost kitchen. It\u2019s important to make sure that your technology is integrated, meaning each element is synched as one program. Integration helps keep your communication organized and also allows you to track sales data, order history, and inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TASK<\/a> provides integrated restaurant technology that supports some of the biggest brands in the business. Their affordable and intuitive tech designs can leverage the success of a new or expanding ghost kitchen<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, you\u2019ll need to launch your restaurant brand online. This involves designing and photographing your menu and building a strong online presence. While digital marketing may at first feel daunting, it\u2019s also a golden opportunity to expand your brand\u2019s influence beyond the confining walls of a traditional storefront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So where to start? You have a brand that you\u2019re ready to make into a versatile delivery business \u2013 but what do you need to get a ghost kitchen up and running?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have a space, a menu that you\u2019ve established with your new online brand, and the technology to get you started, it\u2019s time to talk about what actually goes on inside a kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Analyzing order and sales data through your automated technology will help you constantly optimize your menu based on demand. Flexibility and following local trends are essential for ghost kitchens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The term can refer to several types of cooking spaces. Some are shared, and others are used just for one brand. Here are the main types, so you\u2019ll know how your brand might fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rented Commissary kitchens<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n These kitchens are often for new brands or small established brands that need more space designated for delivery orders. Imagine a small food truck business expanding its services to delivery. They will likely share the space and resources with a different food truck, and maybe they only operate a few days a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commissary kitchens are great if you\u2019re looking for low upfront costs and limited commitment. They\u2019re not so great if you think you\u2019ll need to dominate a lot of kitchen space to prep your orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Incubator\/Hidden kitchens<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You could also call these \u201cpop-up\u201d kitchens. They\u2019re by nature temporary, put in place to help manage a new subsidiary from an already busy restaurant business or food truck. Maybe they only focus on delivery orders, or the establishment is starting a slightly new branch of their existing brand. Incubator virtual kitchens might even be attached to or in the same kitchen as its parent brick-and-mortar restaurant company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Incubator kitchens are great for flexibility, testing new recipes and menus, or as a spinoff of a brick-and-mortar. They are not for new establishments looking to permanently establish themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kitchen pods<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kitchen pods are an easy-to-transport, flexible option with low startup costs. Kitchen pods typically are converted shipping containers without windows. They have limited space, but more control of their location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kitchen pods are a good option for newer brands with low turnover who only require simple preparation methods. They are not designed for busy established brands that need a large amount of space and long working hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ghost kitchens have exploded in popularity in the last few years. With 6 out of 10 adults saying they\u2019re more likely to order online<\/a> now than dine in, it\u2019s no wonder that demand is through the roof for more food delivery options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Businesses are also waking everyone up to see just how valuable online marketing is for restaurant businesses today. Not too long ago, it would have been unheard of to try to open a food business without a storefront. But now, brands like this one in Santa Monica<\/a> have established hugely successful food delivery services without ever interacting face-to-face with customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other huge takeaway from the delivery-only restaurant revolution is that they are great for diversifying. If there\u2019s one thing we know, it\u2019s that customers want more choices \u2013 specialized, good choices \u2013 when choosing their food. Virtual restaurants have the unique ability to be able to run multiple brands under the same restaurant, and even the same kitchen facilities. For example, if you\u2019re selling Asian fusion takeout, you might be able to set up brands for dumplings and<\/em> noodles, and<\/em> curries \u2013 immediately tripling your customer base.<\/p>\n\n\n QSRs face fierce competition \u2013 but your mobile order and pay system<\/a> may be the key to boosting profits.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n You\u2019re probably already weighing up the pros and cons of running a ghost kitchen versus a more traditional brick-and-mortar restaurant business. Here are the biggest pros and cons of starting a virtual kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pros:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Starting a ghost kitchen is a fantastic option if your brand is committed to staying delivery-only. For newer business owners, ghost kitchens provide an accessible way to tap into a booming market. For established restaurants, ghost kitchens are a great way to help you keep up with increased demand for deliveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In brief, yes. Virtual restaurants, if done correctly, can turn a handsome profit without much of an incubation period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research from McKinsey & Co shows that real-estate-related costs account for between 22 and 29 percent of a restaurant’s costs. With occupancy adding less and less value since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and dwindling dine-in numbers reducing the opportunities to sell high-value beverages, some restaurant businesses are looking to transition to low-occupancy models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ghost kitchens provide a low-cost, high-efficiency framework. Low overheads \u2013 reasonable rent, minimal labor, and zero printing costs \u2013 means low risk with potentially very high reward. Combine that with a high-efficiency kitchen, using affordable integrated technology<\/a>, and you\u2019ve got yourself a recipe for great profit margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ghost kitchens are also a way for large brands to tap into a new market and extend their footprint to a wider range of customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many big names in the business<\/a> have jumped on the virtual kitchen bandwagon. Just to name a few:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A multi-brand strategy is a powerful one established QSRs are using to trial new non-competing restaurant businesses while taking advantage of their existing supply chains and infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The newest wave of franchise development sees additional brands developed to best take advantage of brand diversification, territories, existing infrastructures, available physical locations, real estate, and changing trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While this approach naturally comes with its own marketing and branding challenges, current trends towards takeaway-only or delivery-only restaurant businesses mean that multi-brand management is becoming a lucrative choice for ghost kitchen brands too. Without the need for dining rooms or even physical locations other than a virtual kitchen or kitchens, brands can deliver multiple streams and brands through minimum real estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the virtual restaurant market grows, so will its reliance on third-party apps like UberEats, DoorDash and GrubHub. Rather than investing in in-house delivery drivers, a business model that integrates with established delivery driver businesses can help a ghost restaurant expand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, many diners report a preference for making orders directly with restaurants, rather than going through those third-party apps. And so a digital contactless storefront that’s designed with your restaurant branding and seamlessly integrates with your kitchen KDS and POS can help leverage more customers and accelerate the success of your kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the start of the pandemic, ghost kitchens exploded as brands scrambled to keep up with increased delivery demand. Now, two years later, virtual kitchens are stronger than ever with no sign of slowing down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ghost kitchens may very well be the long-term and permanent solution to fast food delivery. And not just because the food delivery service industry has grown 300% faster than on-premise dining since 2014<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main reason is that ghost kitchens significantly cut labor needs and costs. The national restaurant association found that 78% of restaurant operators declare that they don\u2019t have enough staff<\/a> to support their demand. In a growing industry, the only solution is to look to technology to keep up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Virtual kitchens \u2013 and the tech that makes them possible \u2013 are certainly here to stay for fast food delivery businesses around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ghost kitchens are versatile and achievable solutions to growing consumer demand for quality fast food delivery. They can be a subsidiary branch of an existing brand to help streamline and improve delivery service. Or, they can be a new brand taking advantage of digital marketing to establish a low-risk business endeavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ghost kitchens rely on integrated technology to make online ordering<\/a> a win-win for customers and restaurant operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For an in-depth look at the technology behind ghost kitchens, get in touch with the expert team at TASK<\/a>, and learn more about the future of restaurant industry tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat’s the difference between a ghost kitchen and delivery at brick-and-mortar restaurants?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How does a virtual kitchen work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How is a ghost kitchen operated?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Getting to know the main types of Ghost Kitchens<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Impact on the food service industry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The pros and cons of ghost kitchens<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Are ghost kitchens profitable?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What chain restaurants are associated with the ghost kitchen concept?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Multi-brand Management<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How Ghost Kitchens Work With Food delivery services<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Are ghost kitchens the long-term future of fast food<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
ALL TOLD, GHOST KITCHENS ARE HERE TO STAY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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