QSR December 2022

| G H O S T K I T C H E N S | fresh ideas AVirtual Lock One of COVID’s early trends has found lasting power in multiple forms. B Y B A R N E Y W O L F

Delivery and digital ordering gave rise to the virtual brand movement. COVID’s cut on dine-in poured gas on the fire.

A lthough there’s something inherently transient and ethe real in the term “virtual,” the concept of virtual brands is very real and apparently here to stay. The idea is not new, having been born out of the online order- and delivery-driven ghost kitchen trend that began in the early 2010s. However, virtual restaurants are distinct entities that allow kitchen facilities, including those at existing eateries, to set up their own, special online brands. Virtual brands grabbed a foothold and gained strength dur ing the COVID-19 pandemic due to restrictions on dining in and a resulting spare kitchen capacity. Even though many full-service restaurants logically took the plunge, so, too, did a budding num ber of quick-service businesses. The result: There are hundreds of digital restaurant brands fuel ing a niche that potentially could grow into a $1 trillion industry

by 2030 if significant automation and heavy investments occur, according to ongoing analysis by research firmEuromonitor Inter national. It turns out, once again, that necessity is the mother of inven tion. For limited-service restaurants entering this arena, their vir tual brands are not only using existing kitchen space, equipment, and staff, but they are employing few, if any, additional ingredi ents or other stock keeping units (SKUs)—steps that keep costs down and boost margins. One way to describe the operational philosophy succinctly is, “keep it simple.” Not all online brands are built the same. Some are available only through units of the company that developed them, while others are also licensed to other operators. And some of the brands born

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