Can there be a restaurant without a storefront, no tables and chairs, and no diners both? Apparently, yes. Call it ghost kitchen, virtual kitchen, darkish kitchen or by means of the extra famous term — cloud kitchen — it’s the phenomenon that has caught the attention of the meals industry and modified its dynamics. The layout relies on a nicely-prepared kitchen and 
transport only, without a provision for the dine-in facility. With many begin-ups, established cooks, independent marketers, online aggregators and buyers combating for a piece of the pie, cloud kitchen is a phenomenon that many are relating to because of the “future of the food industry”. T2oS digs deeper…
The C to K of Cloud Kitchen
In the most effective term, a cloud kitchen is a digital eating place that serves eating place-exceptional food within the comfort of your house. “It’s an eating place that can provide food but doesn’t serve food in the area. The service is executed by shipping humans. Business generation generally takes place via tech, typically via an app. The complete enterprise of acquiring the purchaser is pushed via tech,” stated celebrated chef Sanjeev Kapoor who has a chain of eating places across India and overseas, and is now in talks with investors to begin cloud kitchens. “We have already started with pilots however haven’t truely started speaking approximately it. First is Bombay after which Bangalore,” stated, Kapoor.
For a cloud kitchen to exist, even as the cost of actual property is low, you cannot rule out the importance of a very good place. “It ideally ought to be close to neighborhoods that have a call for shipping-simplest food. What you spend on is rent, the value of manpower and raw substances. You then list yourself on aggregator apps and that will become the storefront for you,” stated celeb chef Ranveer Brar who works significantly with Eat. The suit, the meals transport arm of Cure. In shape, a wellbeing start-up, and “loves” the cloud kitchen format.
Falling beneath the meals provider phase, the cloud kitchen layout’s upward thrust and call for is fuelled through the arrival of OTT platforms, venture capital-funded aggregators and a realization that it’s a more inexpensive way of doing enterprise. “You mustn’t fear approximately 500 guidelines, problems with law enforcement officials, excise, complaining clients… it’s simplified and within your means layout. You actually have a person else doing the logistics for you,” said Manu Chandra. The chef accomplice of the Olive Group of Restaurants sees a possibility of making parallel brands that operate handiest out of cloud kitchens as an attempt at staying applicable. Talking approximately the new paradigm, he said, “I assume there’s a consciousness of the fact that an increasing number of people now need to sit at home and devour, in place of brave the site visitors and issues that plague the large cities in India. It’s extra economically possible for them. Now you Netflix and kick back and consume food from an eating place basically, but in your home.”
Convenience, smooth get entry to, particularly low fee factors, variety, and shortage of time and talent set to cook dinner are a number of the elements at the back of the recognition of the cloud kitchen format. “Since there’s no storefront and you don’t know where the food is coming from, what becomes essential on this layout is the significance of packaging, branding, and most significantly, the first-class of food that’s being served. These are the factors that assist in establishing an emblem when there’s infrequently any take into account fee. In these days’ day and age, it (establishing a cloud kitchen emblem) isn’t that hard. There are manufacturers now which are constructed thru digital medium best. But there needs to be a strategy in area,” stated Kapoor.
The chairman and dealing with director of Speciality Restaurants, Anjan Chatterjee talked about one interesting thing of this commercial enterprise version. “Since the entry barrier is so low, absolutely everyone can get into this area. And what will become very critical then is the supply of the cloud kitchen, and hygiene? All our restaurant kitchens, by using and large, are ISO 22000 certified,” he added.
Even even though she thinks that cloud kitchen isn’t only a fashion however a phenomenon which is right here to stay, Karen Anand isn’t always entirely heat to the concept. “I definitely agree that less and fewer humans are cooking because they don’t have the time, however, I feel meals isn’t just about consuming, there’s a positive pride that you derive from the whole method of cooking and eating. Now if you are going to order it, there’s not anything wrong with it but I feel that the pleasure is long gone. For me, lifestyles revolve around the pleasure of meals. There’s a whole technology that doesn’t recognize the way to cook and it’s no longer their fault because they likely haven’t been taught. Having stated that, it (cloud kitchen) is the destiny of the food industry but I don’t see myself moving into this,” said the culinary consultant, meals writer and entrepreneur.
