With the ever-growing role of technology in the foodservice industry, cloud kitchens have become the next big thing. Also referred to as ghost kitchens or dark kitchens, these kitchens occupy no physical space and has no dine-in or takeaway facility.
Unlike traditional restaurants, these establishments have no front-of-house. As the name suggests, it exists digitally by relying on third-party integrations or home delivery orders.
The customer has to place the order via call, website or app. Once ready, the food will be delivered to the customer's destination. No thanks to the stiff competition in the F&B industry, restaurants are finding it increasingly difficult to cover the operational costs.
This, along with ever-changing consumer behavior, has made it difficult to sustain brick-and-mortar food establishments. As dine-in customers decline, home delivery food services are experiencing a surge in demand.
More and more people are choosing to get their food delivered to them to avoid the hassle of eating out. In this delivery economy, more and more food businesses are selling meals exclusively through delivery. You will undoubtedly think of names such as GrabFood, Foodpanda and DahMakan.
Of course this way of doing things is not new, especially when you think of pizza joints and Chinese takeout establishments. But the growing popularity of food delivery was only made possible recently.
The advances in technology and the change in consumer habits are the main drivers now. In the past, new entrants into the restaurant industry are people who are familiar with the running of a restaurant. But with the ease of entry thanks to this trend, the profile of the people entering this space will change substantially. Thus, the cloud kitchen market is highly accessible to anyone who wants to venture into the industry.
Not to mention that with the rising standard of living and urbanization, coupled with the elimination of physical infrastructure and equipment, the cloud kitchen market is booming. With the many benefits of the cloud kitchen model, which is not limited to reduced overheads, automated delivery process, the face-to-face contact between the restaurant and customer is slowly disappearing.
