Learn all the most important terms related to ghost kitchens. There are some that are confusing, but we clarified them right away. Ghost kitchens, also known as dark kitchens, are commercial kitchens optimized for food delivery service. Each delivery kitchen is located in areas with a high concentration of delivery demand.
The kitchens themselves don't have storefronts and the staff prepares dishes from their menus that are only available for home delivery. Think of it as a virtual restaurant that works like a digital store, with some members of the company's staff working on fulfilling online orders. Instead of a physical location, your presence is digital, allowing you to reach more customers than you could possibly have with a physical location alone. A ghost kitchen and a kitchen in the cloud are similar concepts.
You'll hear that both terms are used interchangeably to describe a kitchen that prepares meals for home delivery only. Ghost kitchens come in all shapes and sizes, and some spaces are shared and others are used by a single restaurant brand. This is what Greenspan did with his own brands of ghost kitchens: several kitchen styles made with the same basic supplies, all in one place. The first difference is that restaurants offer food service and possibly a takeaway option, while ghost kitchens only offer home delivery.
Another example of a ghost kitchen is The Local Culinary, which offers space only to virtual brands developed in-house. Ghost kitchens can operate from existing restaurant brands or operate as standalone facilities. To start with a ghost kitchen or a virtual kitchen, you'll start by renting space in a facility where you can prepare orders at home. We recommend trying to understand what other brands are doing or finding a good consultant (like Greenspan) who has experience with virtual brands and ghost kitchens.
Ghost kitchens offer endless possibilities in terms of what you can do to launch new brands or manage several virtual restaurants in one place, since your presence is online. It's not a holographic, animated, or any other digital “meal”; it's a kitchen that works much like a ghost kitchen, with one exception. If you manage to successfully launch a virtual brand from your own kitchen, then a ghost kitchen could be a good step in expanding your store presence. Even before the pandemic, ghost kitchens were opening in response to growing consumer demand for meals delivered to restaurants.
This type of ghost kitchen is ideal for adding a new source of income and experimenting with new dishes at the local market. Many traditional restaurant owners are starting to manage a ghost kitchen to complement their main establishment. However, keep in mind that opening a ghost kitchen or virtual restaurant requires a lot of initiative and research on your part.
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