Do you know dark kitchens? Find out why are they a trend.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been the inevitability of the last three years. It changed our way of living in many aspects and many were the transformations that had enormous impacts on the most varied areas of society.
The food market was no different. Faced with an unprecedented crisis, in which resilience was the watchword, new opportunities emerged in the midst of a storm that, at one point, seemed to have no end.
From millions of people who could not leave their homes for months, many were those who did not want or could not cook for themselves and who, not being able to sit down in a restaurant, encouraged the home delivery business to flourish.
With this unprecedented interest in food delivery, new business models have emerged, such as dark kitchens.
But what are dark kitchens?
While a traditional restaurant sells its meals in the space adjacent to its kitchen, dark kitchens do not have direct customer service, they only have home delivery, in an overwhelming majority, through online platforms.
The dark kitchen concept implies an independent business, contrary to other business models, such as virtual kitchens, in which a new restaurant is coupled with an existing one. When talking about a dark kitchen, all the equipment and staff are allocated to only prepare take-out food.
What advantages are there for it to continue to be a trend in the food market?
This type of restaurant is becoming more and more a trend and there are reasons for this to happen, even after the confinements are a thing of the past.
1. Costs are significantly lower compared to a traditional restaurant.
First, there is no need to rent facilities in the best areas of cities, or with a large number of people passing through. It is also not necessary to hire staff for the service, or even to invest in decoration.
It is true that all the expenses related to the kitchen will continue, but there will be a lot of savings in terms of expenses with the client (light in the living room, washings, bathrooms, etc).
2. Greater flexibility to bet on different niches.
Since there is no physical restaurant, there is much more flexibility to create different brands, because there is no need to decorate the room or provide an experience in the restaurant itself.
The only concern has to do with digital communication and the type of food served to the customer.