Cloud Kitchens: Providers, Ghost Kitchens, Virtual Restaurants

There’s work involved in making the shift to delivery and takeaway — time and money that a restaurant likely does not have to spend. In the best-case scenario, the model effectively turns restaurants into so-called “ghost kitchens,” eliminating the need for nearly all front-of-house staff. David Chang has called the pivot to delivery “fools gold.”

Delivery networks. Apps that use their own delivery network to bring meals from restaurants that would not traditionally offer take-out. Uber is just one example but there are many including our very own Delivery Hero and Deliveroo.

Customers still demand delivery but it’s now obvious that the existing delivery app business model is not sustainable for restaurant owners

One path is exemplified by CloudKitchens. At its core, CloudKitchens is simple: Build commercial kitchen spaces in less-trafficked areas and rent them out to operators to run delivery-only food businesses.