Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the foodservice delivery industry has boomed. As this was expected to happen in recent years, the pandemic made the industry more profitable than ever. As many have stopped eating out at restaurants and started ordering delivery, this has helped ghost kitchens boom in recent months.
What are ghost kitchens? According to online sources, a ghost kitchen is defined as “a professional food preparation and cooking facility set up to prepare delivery-only meals.” To put it in simpler words, it is a restaurant without the dining space. Ghost kitchens allow third-party apps such as Ubereats, Postmates, Grubhub, and Doordash to fulfill online orders for restaurants by picking up food orders in different locations. “U.S. food delivery sales topped $19.4 million in 2019, and Euromonitor recently estimated that ghost kitchens could potentially top $1 trillion in revenue by 2030.”
Many restaurants using ghost kitchens in major metropolitan cities are operating under a delivery-only “sub-brand” separate from their flagship location. It allows owners the flexibility and convenience of creating a different menu or scaled-down menu compared to the regular menu found when dining in.
Ghost Kitchens are also a great opportunity for investors, and here’s why:
- Real estate costs are low, which means the investment cost is much smaller than investing in a restaurant.
- The turn around time from investing to launching can be completed in just a few short months.
- Location is not important – you do not have to invest thousands of dollars in finding the perfect location.
When constructing a ghost kitchen, it is critical to consider the design, materials, features, and function.
