Woah, what is this new term? It sounds spooky already. People who do not invest too much of their time looking at innovations around the world in every field may not know about this development in the concept of kitchens. It is pretty new, too, so is hard for everyone to know about. Common people who do not have anything more to do with restaurant chains than to eat there would probably do not know about this new concept. However, it seems like some businesses have already begun building their own ghost kitchens to avail some of the benefits. Yes, it does have some benefits, which is why food chains are now falling into it to save costs and time to a considerable extent. Anyway, just to clear it out, you would not find ghosts in these kitchens or find them preparing food if you thought you would. 

Alright, but what are ghost kitchens?

Have you calmed down now? Now that you know that there is nothing scaring you down there in ghost kitchens, you should finally know what is a ghost kitchen. A ghost kitchen is something which is only for preparing meals and deliver to your place. Many commercial kitchen companies provide these kitchens on rent which will be helpful for small business owners. You must have read this term on restaurant descriptions on food delivery apps. These restaurants do not have a “proper kitchen” as you may call it. They do not have a full-built kitchen, instead, they have a part of a kitchen. This setting does not allow customers to show up at their outlet to dine-in as there is no place to sit and eat there. This is why they are called ghost kitchens: because they are not physically visible to customers as they cannot reach it. Another answer to the question could be that they are somewhat like virtual kitchens. They are also called shadow kitchens and dark kitchens.

A ghost kitchen is not exactly similar to a virtual kitchen, though. While virtual kitchens are built for one brand only and exclusively, ghost kitchens incorporate kitchen space and other facilities for several restaurant brands. A ghost kitchen would not welcome you to eat at their aesthetic place because they do not have any. They can very well cook the meals and make them ready for delivering them to fulfil the orders placed by their customers in that tiny space, but cannot incorporate even one dining customer. There is this one disadvantage that comes along with a ghost kitchen. You cannot have personal connections with your customers. Customers feel this urge to see what the place they order frequently from looks like. Digital personal connection is always available, which these restaurants resort to. Also, the absence of a physical space is generally compensated by serving the best quality of food. 

Why are ghost kitchens gradually taking over the market?

As you must know by now, ghost kitchens are quite useful in the real world, and they are not just a theoretical phenomenon. More businesses are shifting to this kind of kitchen to take advantage of the opportunities that are present in front of them. It may seem absurd at first – to cook in a kitchen an prepare your meals and pack them in a place where people cannot come and see you. Obviously, if you crave human connection so that you can show your customers your aesthetic skills with the colours and furniture you choose for the dining area, you should not choose this kind of kitchen. But if you insist on saving your costs and time, it is the best kitchen style for your business. It is even better for new businesses that do not have that much capital to pay for a full-blown kitchen. 

Ghost kitchens are the best to save operational costs because you do not invest so much in the restaurant setting as you offer delivery-only meals to your customers. It helps you save on your budget considerably when comparing to your competitors. Another thing this kind of virtual kitchen helps you with is quick delivery. When the kitchen is small, you can very well save time by not having to move long distances again and again. Your delivery ratings will go up since you will deliver quick meals due to the save of time.

Ghost kitchens virtual restaurants covid19 industry impact

Due to the pandemic, more businesses have adopted ghost kitchens as a way to keep up with the norms of social distancing and staying away from the virus. Many restaurants were shut down for months and had no income for that period. Hence, when they came back and reopened their business, they converted their kitchen style to a ghost kitchen to keep only a small handful of people inside the kitchen. It obviously saved them various costs and helped them keep the virus away from them and the food at all times, which also put the customers’ lives in safety.