QSR January 2023

INNOVAT ION

Headed into 2023, the future of virtual kitchens is becoming more fact than apparition. / B Y G A R Y S T E R N

When the pandemic arrived in March 2020, and consumers stopped dining indoors, a movement in the restaurant industry gained speed that’s led to an expanding number of ghost and virtual kitchens. Restaurants began to depend on central facilities to fulfill takeout and delivery, and to deliver off-premises demand through lower-cost means. Virtual kitchens served as replacements for indoor dining, enabling entre preneurs to open at a fraction of the cost of building and developing a stand-alone restaurant. Why spend half a million dollars to develop a brick-and-mortar outlet when you could launch a ghost or virtual kitchen for about $50,000, or a fifth the price? In addition, restaurateurs can stack seven or eight takeout eater ies, as hospitality firmC3 does when it clusters several of its brands—Umami Burger, Sam’s Crispy Chicken, and Krispy Rice—into one virtual kitchen facil ity, cutting costs and reducing staff.

 C3 CONTINUES TO BLAZE A TRAIL OF WHAT CONCEPT CREATION COULD LOOK LIKE IN A VIRTUAL-ENABLED SPACE.

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