Cloud Kitchen vs Ghost Kitchen

What are the differences of delivery kitchen, cloud kitchen, ghost kitchen and central kitchen?  

As the pandemic persists, we start to wonder to ourselves, are brick and mortar restaurants really necessary? Well, not quite. We’re constantly at home, ordering food from delivery platforms, really, there’s no need for parking, tables, counters and all that. Furthermore, the cost of starting a business without a physical presence can save F&B entrepreneurs a lot of capital. RM10k capital is sufficient to start a cloud kitchen, but starting a brick and mortar cafe will require at least RM500k.

Why? Because you’re cutting costs on front-of-house activities and concentrating on your food! Some key differences include the location, property cost, staff cost, operational cost, kitchen set up cost, and marketing. Hence, cloud kitchen and ghost kitchens are trending in the market now as it provides a low risk space for these entrepreneurs to test out their ideas, to validate these ideas, or fail at a lower cost. 

Delivery Kitchen

A delivery kitchen is a restaurant that can not be found anywhere, physically. Hence, your “self pick-up” on delivery platforms may not be eligible. Delivery kitchen delivers food to your doorstep even if it has no physical space for you to dine-in. 

Placing your orders through their website, through phone calls are done. It is how a brand/ restaurant functions under one roof, or in other words, one kitchen. 

Take away: No physical restaurant, ONE brand under ONE or multiple restaurants

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Cloud Kitchen

A cloud kitchen too does not have a physical restaurant, because as its name states, it’s in the clouds. But how it differentiates from delivery kitchens is that cloud kitchen has numerous brands operating in the same outlet. The food may be prepared by the same chef or multiple chefs, but do we really need this piece of information? We get a variety of food, and as long as it tastes good, what’s there to complain, am I right?

Take away: No physical outlet, multiple brands under one roof

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Ghost Kitchen/Dark Kitchen

The name may sound quite frightening to some, but once you get to know it a little better you might start questioning yourself WHY and start losing faith in the english language itself (unless you’re a kitchen then maybe you’ll be spooked).
Well, ghost kitchens are basically restaurants that are very much alive in online delivery apps but do not exist physically. They exist virtually in various locations but operate on a hub (central kitchen). And delivers their food to a wider range of locations. 

Take away: food prepared under one roof, One brand, multiple presence in delivery apps.

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Central Kitchen

A central kitchen is the OG amongst all. It is a common kitchen owned by a company that offers space to store and prepare food for all restaurant branches and outlets. Though, central kitchens can be rented by smaller restaurants that need more storage space or cooking space and equipment to cater to larger amounts of demand in the market. It is commonly seen in food trucks or even pop-up restaurants. One of the benefits of having a central kitchen is that the company is able to purchase  ingredients in bulk instead of getting each branch to purchase in small quantities. It is also a great way to have quality control and consistency across all branches!

Take away: one brand, has physical outlets, food prepared in one kitchen

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Conclusion

Essentially, delivery kitchens and cloud kitchens are the same, the only difference is the number of brands that prep food in the same kitchen varies. Furthermore, a ghost kitchen has a centralized kitchen but exists virtually over the region to reach a larger range of customers. They do not have a physical presence where people can dine-in and enjoy the ambiance. It’s either they order through an online platform, be it the website or a delivery platform. And they can choose to self pick-up or send it to their doorstep.

As the pandemic persists, and people continue staying at home, the need for meeting friends and family in restaurants are still at its minimum. Hence, Cloud kitchen, ghost kitchen continues to prosper. However, the debate goes on, whether or not it will be a prosperous business model once the pandemic has improved. 

No matter what kitchen you own, Inventory will always be messy and not to mention the paperwork for your procurement needs! Well, Food Market Hub is here to Save Your Soul! We have modules for central kitchen and it can be tailored to your very need! our satisfied customers have said that we manage to lower down their food cost and hiring cost for book keeping! So if you'd like more profit margins, sign up now!

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