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They go by many names: Ghost kitchens, delivery kitchens, delivery-only kitchens, and more. But for the purposes of this article, let’s simply call them “virtual kitchens.”
Virtual kitchens are restaurant kitchens that only make food for delivery (often orderable through a website), and they’re catching on in North America, Europe, and elsewhere.
Often, you hear about the merits of virtual kitchens in relation to the consumer (more convenience, better accessibility, reduced delivery times, etc.). But, in fact, virtual kitchens also benefit chefs and entrepreneurs.
If you’re a passionate chef or food-obsessed entrepreneur, take note. In this article, let’s explore three significant benefits of opening a restaurant in a virtual kitchen.
A Focus on the Food
Assuming that many of this blog’s readers have at one time owned (or at least worked at) a restaurant, you know how challenging it can sometimes be to just focus on the food.
There are a thousand and one things to worry about in a brick-and-mortar restaurant. You have to train front-of-house staff, procure and maintain furniture, maintain your dish-pit, change the bulbs, wash the awnings, update the POS system, clean and stock the bathrooms, and – of course – continually crunch the numbers so you can pay the lease. And that’s before you can think about the food!
When you own a restaurant in a virtual kitchen, the majority of those concerns evaporate. And, just like a good demi-glace, you reduce the experience to its bare, pleasurable essentials. If you team up with a neighborhood company offering custom-built virtual kitchens on wheels, you can focus more of your time and energy on what matters: the food.
Expansion without Massive Upfront Costs
Ask a handful of chefs why they haven’t opened their own restaurants, and each one of them will likely give the same answer – money. The same goes for food entrepreneurs wary of expanding; they don’t want to deal with the sizeable upfront costs.
Virtual kitchens allow restaurant owners to expand without massive upfront costs. When you partner with a neighborhood kitchen operator, they help you amplify your culinary and creative capital to unlock exponential sales potential. They evaluate your concept, help you refine it, pilot the concept in your home-base city and then help expand it to new neighborhoods, cities and countries.
Keeping Up with the Times
The world is moving at a breakneck pace. Consumers have a whole new set of priorities, demands, and expectations when they think about ordering food.
For one, consumers are increasingly digital; they like that technology streamlines the food ordering process. Secondly, they want fresh food delivered – not the stale, limp delivery fries of yesteryear. And finally, consumers aren’t keen on paying an exorbitant price for service and delivery fees. The smartest way to align your restaurant with these shifting expectations is to convert your business to (or start your business as) a virtual restaurant.
As you hear story after story about the benefits of virtual kitchens for consumers, keep in mind how they also benefit chefs and restaurateurs. Whether you’re a passionate chef looking to distribute your food to your community, or an entrepreneur looking to expand your existing restaurant business, you may find that virtual kitchens offer the ideal solution.