If you’ve been paying close attention to news about the restaurant industry, you may have heard of “ghost kitchens.” These have existed for a while now, but they have taken off during the recent pandemic. Is a ghost kitchen arrangement right for your restaurant? It actually might be beneficial. Let’s take a closer look at how these ghost kitchens could work with organic food places.
What is a Ghost Kitchen?
A ghost kitchen gets its name because the restaurant you’re ordering from doesn’t technically exist. If you order from a restaurant online and go to the location listed as the address, you won’t see any signage for it. You might see a different restaurant entirely!
This is becoming more and more common, with some restaurants even deciding to open up multiple ghost kitchens. There are potential benefits to using a ghost kitchen, but you also need to take note of a few potential drawbacks when deciding whether or not to move forward.
Can it Help Your Restaurant?
A ghost kitchen could be beneficial for your restaurant for a few reasons. First of all, you can use the facilities and equipment you already have, so there’s really no upfront cost to starting one most of the time. Secondly, you might be able to target different types of diners with different ghost kitchens. If you have a varied menu, there’s nothing stopping you from establishing a ghost kitchen that sells pasta dishes and another that focuses on wings and similar snacks.
People who are looking for something specific could end up finding your ghost kitchen, even when your organic restaurant was previously overlooked by them. As more people turn to delivery apps, this could be a great way to attract different types of customers and a few that you wouldn’t have served otherwise.
Ghost kitchens can also be beneficial for small operations that don’t have a huge storefront or dining space. Make the most out of your small space in a city and establish a ghost kitchen that can still serve up delicious takeout to delivery customers.
Potential Drawbacks
There are still some issues that you might run into if you decide to use a ghost kitchen though. First, you’re probably going to need to partner up with third-party delivery apps. Most of these charge fees, and in an industry with margins as narrow as the restaurant sector, those extra costs could present a big problem.
The other major issue is that customers might not be happy once they have found out that they ordered from a ghost kitchen. While this type of arrangement is becoming more common, there are still some customers who might feel deceived. That may not be good for attracting repeat customers.
Expand the Reach of Your Restaurant
If you want to learn more about the changes and trends coming to the organic food industry, check out the Organic Restaurants website. We make it easy to get the latest news and learn more about how you can extend the reach of your restaurant, attract new customers, and keep them coming back.