Helpful definitions, terms, and players in the virtual/ghost/cloud kitchen ecosystem
A series of 50 posts in 50 days - Day 5/50
At time of writing, this contains 30 definitions. On twitter I'll keep updating this over time. I'm not defining general restaurant terms (front of house, covers, prime costs, etc) in this post.
Instead, this post contains things that fall under the "Virtual Kitchens" umbrella -- concepts where the primary interface with the customer is digital.
FYI on general terms like virtual/ ghost/ cloud/ dark -- if you google these and open 5 different websites discussing them, you'll get 5 different answers. These are pretty blurry. But I've listed what I understand so far.
1) Restaurant Of The Future - ROTF
Due to technology changes, COVID, and changes to consumer behavior patterns, it is widely accepted that the restaurant of the last 30 years will change drastically in the near future. Largely: Tech focused, off-premise focused, health focused.
Per FSR magazine:
Hands Free Everything
Frictionless Ordering
Flexible Seating
Handwash Stations
Simple Menus
Cross Functional Staff
Flexible Kitchens
Remote Storage
Voice Activated
Off Prem/Curbside
More Drive Thru
Air quality systems
Brand Ambassadors
2) QSR
Quick Service Restaurant. Pretty similar to "Fast Food" just rebranded. Others view quick service restaurants as "Fast Casual", and consider them as an intermediate concept between fast food and casual dining, and usually priced accordingly.
Lines are blurry here.
3) Virtual Brand
Delivery/Takeout only food concept that’s sold exclusively online + on 3rd party apps
E.g. @MrBeastBurger from Virtual Dining Concepts.
4) Ghost Kitchen
A place where virtual brands are made without a publicly advertised brick and mortar location. Can either be within an existing restaurant or Cloudkitchen or standalone.
e.g Bravo using an underutilized makeline to produce the virtual brand Mr. Beast Burger
5) Virtual Kitchen
Different from a ghost kitchen because virtual kitchens don’t rent from third parties.
They have their own established brick and mortar locations (or food trucks), and use their existing kitchens to create additional, delivery-exclusive menus.
6) Cloud Kitchen
General idea = larger space divided into multiple shared spaces for chefs to rent and cook virtual/ghost brands.
*Example is a company founded by ex-uber CEO Travis Kalanick called "Cloud Kitchens" that does exactly this.
Its like Wework but for kitchens.
7) Commissary Kitchen
A central place where food is prepped, then moved to a place where it will be fully prepared and then delivered to consumers.
Could also be an existing restaurant that uses ghost kitchens around the city to expand their delivery reach.
8) Dark Kitchen
Same as ghost kitchen, as far as I know. "Dark" because its usually off the beaten path/not clear and visible to consumers.
9) Virtual Food Hall
Many brands operating for delivery/takeout only from a single location.
E.g. The Commons in Philadelphia. 7 Virtual brands operating out of a restaurant groups flagship restaurant location + shared sister restaurant
10) Delivery apps
Most common players in the US are Doordash (recently bought Caviar), UberEats (recently bought Postmates), Grubhub.
Fees are typically around 30% all in (open app, place order, send order to restaurant, collect order, bring to customer).
11) White Label Delivery
Delivery that is performed by a third party, used for fulfillment of orders only. Once a delivery order is placed on a restaurants proprietary site, a network of local drivers is used to pick up the food and then deliver it.
12) Doordash Drive
A white label, on-demand delivery service that is provided by Doordash to fulfill deliveries, but consumers don't know its Doordash.
It is a flat fee option for operators (usually ~$7.50/delivery, negotiated by state) where operators choose how much to pass on to customer.
13) Relay
Independent courier company - lets you use all the 3rd party delivery apps for marketing, but says you can reduce commissions up to 75% by using them for the actual delivery.
Most dominant in NYC.
14) Virtual Dining Concepts
Creates turnkey delivery only brands -> licenses them to operators to be launched in ghost kitchens.
Seen as a leader in celebrity brand launches, running Mr. Beast Burger, Barstool Bites, Nascar Refuel, Mariah's Cookies + more.
15) Nextbite
Similar to VDC above, they create turnkey brands that operators can license and sell for delivery only. Goal = help you generate more revenue.
Brands include: Hot Box by Wiz Khalifa, Firebelly Wings, Grilled Cheese Society, George Lopez Tacos + more.
16) C3
Creating Culinary Communities - Proprietary mobile app Citizens Go, and delivery only brands like Umami Burger, Krispy Rice, Sam’s Crispy Chicken.
C3 is a brands company w/ a real estate play, operating in 250 locations in the US.
17) Reef Technology
A ghost kitchen provider that is converting underutilized spaces (network of parking garages/parking lots across the country) to be ghost kitchen hubs.
They do not license concepts to operators. Affiliated with NBRHD kitchens.
18) Salted
A company that dubs itself "The restaurant group of the future", creating brands focused on sustainable + good for you food. Live in 9 cities, will be in 80 cities by 2022.
Moonbowls, Califlower Pizza, Lulubowls, $5 Salad Company, Thrive Kitchen, and Ginger Bowls.
19) Cloud Kitchens (City Storage Systems, LLC)
Founded by ex-uber CEO Travis Kalanick, buys real estate that has access to population-dense areas, but typically more industrial (cheaper).
Builds small kitchens on that RE that they rent to operators.
Designed for delivery.
20) Facility Brands
Brands created by Cloud Kitchens that are "rented"/licensed to operators. Turn on a switch, start cooking, CK takes a cut of sales.
Like Amazon Basics, but for food concepts. Small operators won't like this, but its the natural strategy for Cloud Kitchens.
21) Otter Software
Integrator kitchen software that brings delivery services together. Connects Caviar, Postmates, Uber Eats, and Doordash platforms directly to your PoS and KDS, making a seamless operation from order -> delivery.
Part of Cloud Kitchens offering.
22) Kitchen United
They buy high-trafficked locations in the middle of urban city centers, to be as close to their customers as possible.
"Our ghost kitchens are meant to be seen". Membership gives you FOH support and proprietary MIX tech stack.
23) Zuul Kitchens
Had an NYC location that hosted Sweetgreens, Junzi, and Stone Bridge Pizza and Salad. This was just acquired by Kitchen United.
Zuul pivoted and is now all in on software and ZuulOS (virtual food hall ordering/website software)
24) Doordash Kitchens
The vertical integration of the virtual kitchen business from Doordash. These are physical, delivery-only locations branded as "Doordash Kitchens.
Partner with large co's like Chik-fil-a to expand delivery reach, or sell concepts under the DD umbrella.
25) Lunchbox
"Next gen enterprise online ordering". A platform of growth hacking tools + tech to drive guests away from third parties and onto your native platforms.
Drip campaigns, push notifications, print mktg, loyalty, upselling, mobile app, native app, virtual food halls.
26) Bentobox
"Restaurant websites, online ordering, gift cards and more. All in one place."
A SaaS platform that makes really great websites + other tools for operators.
Women-founded + has raised a total of $52.4M in funding over 6 rounds.
27) BBOT
Contactless order and pay solution for the hospitality industry, and recent investments/offerings in the digital ordering space for ghost kitchen operators and virtual food halls
Recently raised $15m series for $22m total funding. Founded in NYC.
28) Order Aggregator
All the third party delivery apps have their own apps/tablets/processes. As an operator, it becomes very challenging to manage orders from 5+ channels and tablets.
Insert Order Aggregators. These are softwares that make that painless. 2 leaders outlined below.
29) Deliverect
A leading "aggregator" of delivery apps. Prevents tablet hell" for operators running on Doordash, Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Grubhub, etc. all at once.
Potential challenge for Deliverect = native integrations coming from POS systems like Toast/Square
30) Cuboh
Similar to Deliverect, its another leading order aggregation software. I’ve spoken with many other operators so far, and more than 1 have recommended Cuboh as a great solution.
Any time I start hearing multiple recommendations, I get excited.
Thats all I’ve got for now. Hope this helps paint a picture for those of you less familiar with the space.
New terms, new players, new tech. I’ll keep updating this list on twitter over time.