The ‘dark kitchen’ isn’t just where you make a sandwich after midnight. In fact, dark kitchens represent the cutting edge of food service for the 21st century
With new outlets cropping up and ‘going dark’ every month. But what are they? What do they do? How do they work – and is opening a dark kitchen the right business move for you?
Dark Kitchens – the Basics
A dark kitchen – sometimes referred to as a ‘ghost kitchen’ or ‘cloud kitchen’, but we’ll stick with the most exciting name – is essentially a takeaway service without a public-facing element. Rather than opening up on the high street, ready for punters to walk up, sit in, or take away, dark kitchens focus exclusively on the massive appetite among UK diners for online ordering. There are rich pickings to be had in this space, with the industry valued at £3.2 billion in 2022, having grown by 35% per year on average since 2017.
What was already an emerging business model exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, as restaurateurs looked for new ways to keep serving customers from home. The dark kitchen was a lifeline for some of those businesses, and many restaurants have maintained an online focus even after they were able to re-open for customers.
Dark Kitchens – the Upside
So why go dark? For one, it can be a huge cost saver. Running a dark kitchen allows a business owner to cut back on some expensive and time-consuming aspects of food service, like hiring and retaining wait staff, or paying over the odds for a high footfall location. The public doesn’t need to know where you are, and you don’t need to spend your upfront costs decking out a storefront with a coat of paint and an expensive sign. Just make sure you’re registered online and there’s something telling delivery drivers where they need to be – and you can put the rest of your budget into the food, where it belongs.
You also don’t need to feel restricted to one cuisine or target market – you can retool your kitchen to a new menu at the drop of a hat. In fact, you can even operate distinct outlets from the same venue – just make sure your food safety protocols are robust if you’re running a vegan noodle bar alongside a steakhouse, for example!
If you were already considering a new venture as a restauranteur or takeaway aficionado – and we have plenty of great options if you were – why not also consider a dark kitchen? Here are a few questions to ask yourself.
Will I miss the public?
Don’t expect to be the happy owner, popping in from time to time to shake hands with your guests and recommend they try the veal. You won’t have any Facetime with your customers, and if that’s something that attracts you to the industry, maybe stick to a more traditional restaurant.
Can I find the right location?
You don’t have to pay a high street premium, but you do still need to be close to the action, with lots of potential users close by. Most venues deliver within 3-5 miles on average, so you need to be able to find 100% of your customers within that radius. That can be a big ask, and you should also be prepared to really invest in your marketing budget.
Am I prepared to get technical?
Online ordering is the wild west of food service, and there are plenty of companies out there panning for gold. You’ll need a degree of digital competency to navigate picking the right delivery partners and have a robust plan for who you’ll work with and when. Some kitchens run into trouble when they put themselves up on all the apps, only to find themselves running between different tablets trying to match the right order to the right driver. You can also consider investing in a service that consolidates these providers for you – but that’s another expense to budget for.
Do I want my name on the door?
You can’t talk about dark kitchens without discussing the elephant in the room. And that elephant is a real beast – MrBeast. This ‘virtual restaurant’ – under the brand of Youtube phenomenon ‘MrBeast’ – is one of the leading companies finding success with the dark kitchen format. In fact, many restaurants chose to operate as MrBeast outlets during the pandemic, citing name recognition as a key factor for helping them generate orders and stay afloat.
According to their website, there are over 55 locations serving MrBeast burgers in the UK, and while the brand is undergoing some turmoil, it remains a useful reminder that recognised brands still dominate food service as it moves online. If you’re imagining setting up your dark kitchen under your own brand, you won’t just have to face off against the clown or the king for your customers – when it comes to dark kitchens, the beast is the apex predator right now.
Hopefully, this has given you a better sense of what a dark kitchen is, and if the model is right for you. Keen to proceed? Why not take a look at some of the vacant properties we have listed right now!
Looking to sell your takeaway business, Daltons Business has helped thousands of takeaway owners sell their busienss – click here to find out more
