If you are a food startup then you must have definitely heard of dark kitchens or ghost kitchens. They are coming up everywhere, especially in and across London, and are taking the food industry by storm. While the hospitality industry had to bear the biggest brunt of the pandemic, shared kitchens are showing the way forward. They have helped reduce cost, improve margins and increase profitability.

So, what exactly is a dark kitchen? A dark kitchen, also known as a cloud kitchen or shared kitchen, is a kitchen premise from where several food businesses operate. They eliminate the dine-in and takeaway concept as businesses use the kitchen to cook and pack food that is ultimately delivered at the doorstep of the customer. Businesses operating out of a dark kitchen utilize online channels to find customers and deliver food at home.

An increasing number of food businesses, especially start-ups and small scale businesses are shifting to dark kitchens due to significant benefits such as –

1. Low operating costs

Shared kitchens help businesses save costs as they have to pay a lower rent compared to traditional restaurant space and also they don’t have to invest in equipment. It also enables them to reduce staff such as waiters, cleaning staff etc. This helps in lowering costs and increasing profitability for the businesses.

2. Quick implementation of ideas

A dark kitchen makes it easier for you to go from idea to execution in record time. Since you don’t need to make heavy capital investment or fulfil several complicated legal obligations, you can get your business off the ground from day one. You can actually visualize an idea and execute it within a matter of days!

3. Easy management

Ghost kitchens have helped make the food business as simple as possible. It is all about the food and customer satisfaction. You don’t need to worry about the décor or scheduling cleaning shifts; it is easier to manage when compared with a traditional food business. It also frees up a lot of time for entrepreneurs to think, innovate and improve the business.

With the rise in online food delivery apps and services such as JustEat, Deliveroo and UberEats it is becoming easier for food businesses and start-ups to scale and grow from a shared kitchen. Reaching a large customer base, delivering food at home and also getting immediate feedback are just some of the ways in which these channels are helping fuel the growth of food businesses. They also provide dynamic data such as changing preferences of customers, cuisine preference in a particular location, profitable business hours etc. that can help businesses take proactive steps.

In fact, Deliveroo was a pioneer of sorts of the ‘cloud kitchen’ concept when it started these kitchens in the year 2017; now you can find them all across London. Deliveroo itself operates several dark kitchens in East London and even in Dalston. Apart from Deliveroo kitchens, there are various other dark kitchens all over the place that you can join.

If you are a food start-up, you must definitely consider shifting to a shared kitchen or a dark kitchen and be a part of revolutionizing the way the industry does business! Why not join the dark kitchen at The Co-Dalston in Hackney, London. Learn More Here.