Have you ever noticed new eateries appearing on your food delivery app, but you can’t find your local location?
Chances are your food is coming from a dark kitchen, also known as a ghost kitchen or cloud kitchen.
Andy Lee drew attention to the concept during the pandemic when new meal options appeared on his app.
Dr. Andy Lee went on to teach students about dark kitchens in his restaurant management course after discovering it in his area. (Included)
“I wanted to know the exact location because, from what I understand, there aren’t any shops (in that area) that actually sell fried chicken,” said Dr Lee, from the University of Queensland’s School of Business. .
“I found out that this address is a different (takeout) store…but they’re selling fried chicken under a different name on Uber Eats.”
“Restaurant with no seats”
Dr. Lee says it’s easiest to think of a dark or ghost kitchen as a “restaurant without seating.”
They mainly specialize in online ordering through third-party food delivery apps and offer multiple different food brands in one place.
Ghost Kitchen’s menu includes meals designed to be assembled quickly. (Unsplash: Fetty Gessani)
The concept has been around for quite some time before the pandemic, but the coronavirus lockdown has “launched a rocket” behind the trend, according to David Mallon, director of hospitality consultancy Future Food. .
These virtual kitchens can save costs by offering a variety of quick grab-and-go meals without the need for a storefront or customer service staff, he says.
“Australia’s hospitality workforce has gone through something of a reset due to COVID-19, so we will continue to see a long period of growth,” Mallon said.
He added that the physical form of cloud kitchens “can vary widely”, pointing to one Brisbane operator that offers more than six brands but no walk-in dining option.
However, this is not always the case. Established businesses are also jumping on board with this trend.
Dark Kitchen uses a delivery app to connect virtual food brands with paying customers. (ABC News: Jean De Polloni)
“Some people just want to innovate, experiment, and try different things,” Maron said.
“There’s a Mexican food brand in Australia that actually has a virtual brand, and they’re operating out of their own restaurants, out of the same kitchen. It’s a little hub.”
Can consumers know where they ordered from?
According to Dr. Lee, there are three types of dark kitchens. One began with no plans to open a storefront, a venue expanded to accommodate online orders, and a commercial kitchen built to rent out to chefs.
Mallon said the hospitality market is “becoming fragmented” and convenience is paramount.
David Mallon said dark kitchens offer customers more food options while giving businesses the opportunity to earn additional income. (Included)
“With that convenience comes variety,” he says.
“It’s now moving beyond just restaurants, cafes and dark kitchens to grocery stores and other areas.”
Mallon said younger, tech-savvy generations are likely to be familiar with the concept of delivery aggregators operating in today’s “information age,” but they don’t know if their meals are coming from ghost kitchens. He said anyone can investigate.
“It’s so easy to just get out of the app, go to Google, type in your name and see what comes up,” he says.
“If you can’t think of anything, you can probably assume that your virtual brand is running from a dark kitchen.”
You may have ordered from a ghost kitchen before and didn’t even know it. (Unsplash: Ambitious Studio* Rick Barrett)
But Dr. Lee said the average consumer has no idea if they are ordering in a darkened kitchen, citing the experience of an individual who operates in a fast food chain.
“There’s no way to know if a customer is ordering from a ghost kitchen or a regular restaurant unless they really want to know,” he says.
are they safe?
With more types of food being prepared and fewer staff to process orders, customers shouldn’t expect their deliveries to reflect the same quality as restaurants.
In addition to the time it takes to travel to the drop-off address, some apps may request one driver to make multiple other deliveries on the same route.
Some food delivery riders and drivers may be responsible for multiple other orders on the same route. (ABC News: Gemma Ferguson)
“Especially when it’s supposed to be a hot item, even with the best of intentions, by the time we get it, it’s not quite the same, it’s a little bit cooler and the freshness isn’t the same. There may not be,” he says. Maron says.
“The quality factor is always a challenge,” he added, but it depends on the individual site and how the workers there are trained.
Mallon said the inspections are based on food health and safety standards, which are “the same across the board” whether it’s a traditional restaurant or a dark kitchen.
Food delivery apps won’t always tell you when they’re ordering from a cloud kitchen, but a simple online search can help consumers make informed choices. (ABC News: Gemma Ferguson)
If a food delivery app offers cloud kitchens to customers, “that means you’re doing a good job in terms of quality control,” says Dr. Lee, but if they don’t, you’ll lose business.
“For a ghost kitchen to survive, it has to offer higher quality food than a regular restaurant,” he says.
