Five years ago, many diners would be skeptical if they were led to a small dinky trailer with no dining area that served Asian-fusion street foods. Then they have a bite of their order, and wonder why this rinky-dink location doesn’t open a real stand-alone restaurant. The answer is in the question: they don’t have to worry about the headaches that comes with a full-service restaurant. Today, these eccentric food spots are popping up more frequently and have become the hottest trend in the restaurant industry. Now with restrictions in place caused by the coronavirus pandemic, ghost kitchens have potential to revolutionize the restaurant industry through their streamlined approach to concepts.
What Are Ghost Kitchens?
Ghost kitchens are food preparation and cooking facilities that do not provide dining areas for customers, meaning they only offer deliveries or to-go orders. Without the need to worry about staffing servers, purchasing furniture, or maintaining the cleanliness of a dining area, ghost kitchens can focus their efforts on providing customers with the highest-quality meals possible. Ghost kitchens boast great versatility because of their ability to incorporate multiple concepts from a single location. This makes it easier for restaurateurs without considerable capital to launch their businesses to open quicker for a fraction of what it costs to build out a full-service restaurant. Ghost kitchens can also be referred to existing restaurants that incorporate another concept into this kitchen. For example, the owner of a pizza spot might want to boost sales by adding a dessert menu, but doesn’t know how to make quality desserts. That person has the option to incorporate a local ice cream or boutique cookie concept into their kitchen, adding versatility to their menu without sacrificing substantial resources.
Menus Precede Branding
Without a furnished dining area, interior décor, an attentive staff, or exterior signage, there is not much a ghost kitchen can do to enhance the experience of their concept. That’s why many consider ghost kitchens as one of the most accurate ways to gauge the quality of a concept’s food. The surging rise of ghost kitchens is forcing restaurant owners everywhere to refine their menus to both stand out above the competition and create dishes that travel well for delivery and takeout orders. By incorporating multiple food concepts in one location, restaurateurs can benefit from building a menu that offers something for everyone, allowing owners to amplify revenues – especially with group orders. Ghost kitchens also provide opportunities for owners to collaborate with local and seasonal suppliers and vendors to create unique menu items that will drive up demand for menu items, and in turn, more ghost kitchen locations.
Deliveries & Curbside Pickup
It’s common for some ghost kitchens to provide their customers with a small dining hall, but the majority rely on delivery services to get their food out. That’s where food delivery apps come into play. In the last decade, apps like GrubHub, UberEats, Doordash, and countless others have grown to become titans in the restaurant industry. The convenience they provide customers has forced the hands of restaurateurs to incorporate their services into existing business models. In this age of the post-COVID world, delivery services are essential to prevent the transmission of the virus and keep restaurants open for business. These apps provide both a safe method for owners to transport food and an extra marketing channel to get the word out by maintaining an online presence on the apps. Alternatively, ghost kitchens also offer the option for customers to utilize curbside pickup, which helps cut down on overhead for restaurant owners.
UNGRY Kitchen: The World’s First Ghost Kitchen Franchise
Entrepreneurs are always on the hunt to capitalize on the strongest trends of the restaurant industry, but only one made the right moves. UNGRY Kitchen is a franchise opportunity that allows entrepreneurs to invest in up to four concepts from UNGRY Kitchen’s exclusive network to operate at their location. Compared to franchising a traditional restaurant, UNGRY Kitchen offers a quicker and more affordable build-out that will lead to a faster return on investment. For restaurant owners, joining the UNGRY Kitchen Network means you can expand your concept to multiple cities on the franchisee’s dime, improve your buying power from UNGRY Kitchen’s vendors, and amplify flagship traffic through increased brand awareness. If you’re an entrepreneur seeking a strong concept to enter the restaurant industry, or are a restaurant owner looking to take your business to the next level, contact UNGRY Kitchen today.
