6 Effective & Important Cloud Kitchen Business Ideas For Your Startup
- Business Startup
Niccolo Romano- 0
- 12 minutes read
With the invention of cloud technology, boosting online ordering, and the prevailing Covid outbreak, the idea of a cloud kitchen seems like the only logical thing to do to handle decreased margins and high rentals. Digital restaurants or cloud kitchens are the latest trends that have established themselves in the restaurant space really fast. In this article, we are going to discuss cloud kitchen business ideas on how you can start your own cloud kitchen to earn a good revenue.
As per the latest statistics, the Global Cloud Kitchen market size is anticipated to attain USD 71.4 Billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 12.0 percent from 2021 to 2027. This shows the high potential this wonder type of business holds.
What Is A Cloud Kitchen And How Does It Operate?
A cloud kitchen is basically a restaurant kitchen that receives incoming orders only via an online ordering system and provides no dine in facility. Cloud kitchens are also called dark kitchens, virtual restaurants, ghost kitchens, and satellite kitchens. They are typically situated in the comfort of your home.
The technology of cloud kitchen can navigate online ordering at a low cost. A cloud kitchen can be a centralized commercial food production facility where various restaurants can share resources and prepare food. The quantity of cloud kitchens in India is anticipated to increase over 50 percent year on year and it is thought of as one of the most profitable small business ideas.
Now coming to the operations of cloud kitchen. Unlike traditional restaurants, a cloud kitchen enables food business operators to make and deliver food at minimum costs and overheads. It enables restaurants a kitchen space but provides no dine-in facility. The reason why cloud kitchens are proliferating in this country is because of the 3 primary reasons which are choice, convenience, and cost.
Cloud kitchens can be in a warehouse with several workstations, hood vents, and stainless steel tables. They can create their online ordering website or application or they can accept orders via the various food delivery channels. Customers can order via their mobile and have the food delivered to their offices or homes.
Cloud Kitchen Business Ideas: 6 Models And Their Operations
Now let us come to the main point, why should you consider these cloud kitchen business ideas? Because you are cutting costs on front-of-house actions and concentrating on your food. With the accessibility of third-party services and the increasing comfort of mobile ordering, this structure seems just correct to experiment with. With that, we will talk about 6 cloud kitchen business ideas that you can choose for setting up your cloud kitchen startups. You can also consider these as cloud kitchen examples.
1. The Independent Cloud Kitchen Model
This cloud kitchen business model implies a single brand, single kitchen, and no storefront. This is the original cloud kitchen structure. A restaurant system with no seating space and also no physical store. Restaurant owners or even food business entrants sidestepping high rents and real estate prices by shedding the front-of-house. This idea gained fame with the growth of online ordering and increasing consumer demand for deliveries.
How does it work?
- Orders come from online avenues
- Kitchen only
- Specialized in a cuisine
- Delivery only
- A mix of self-reliance and aggregator dependency for deliveries and orders
2. The Rebel Foods (Faasos) Business Model
This cloud kitchen business idea involves multi-brand (cuisine), multiple outlets, a single kitchen, and no storefront. The more illustrative cloud kitchens are dependent on data intelligence like area wise demographics of residents, famous cuisines, and hyperlocal demand-supply. The idea here is to treat the demand for the most ordered cuisine in a neighborhood (a 5-6 km radius) with relatively smaller quantities of restaurant choices that serve these dishes. This structure is clever as it positions the separate brands as their own individual establishments. And having one single shared kitchen keeps functional costs low. This structure closely resembles the original cloud kitchen structure with no physical storefront. You could consider it as specialized cuisine based cloud restaurants that are owned by the same mother brand, sharing the same kitchen.
How does it work?
- Orders come from online platforms
- Single kitchen, several brands
- Each brand specialized in a particular cuisine
- Delivery only
- A mix of self-reliance and aggregator dependency for orders and deliveries
3. The Freshmenu Business Model
This cloud kitchen business idea involves a single brand, multiple outlets, single kitchen, with a storefront. This is kind of a mashup between a takeaway restaurant and also a cloud kitchen. It matches a cloud kitchen business structure for the most part, but also comes with a storefront. The storefront prevails to enable users to walk in and see how their food is prepared, should they ever want to. In essence, this structure uses all the functional efficiencies of the cloud kitchen business structure but also has a “real” window with users.
How does it work?
- Orders come from online platforms
- Single kitchen, single brand
- The altering menu that has a mix of bestsellers and seasonal dishes
- Delivery and take away
- A mix of self-reliance and aggregator dependency for orders and deliveries
4. The Swiggy Access Business Model
This cloud kitchen structure is often called the “shell” in the food business circles, and it is mainly an optimally situated empty kitchen space with the bare minimum structure like gas drainage, pipelines, and ventilation systems. Located (or new) restaurant businesses rent that kitchen space and make use of the online ordering of Swiggy, delivery fleet, and menu intelligence to create a restaurant. The restaurant brings the equipment, raw materials, staff, and recipes. In simple terms, the restaurant does the cooking, and platforms like Swiggy does the rest. This is one of the most effective cloud kitchen business plans.
How does it work?
- Orders come from Swiggy
- Single kitchen, several restaurant “partner” brand
- The Restaurant handles the menu, staff, and kitchen equipment
- Delivery and fulfillment are done by Swiggy.
5. The Zomato Infrastructure Services Business Model
One up from the bare bones Swiggy availability structure, the Zomato structure is based on the notion of rented kitchens but with built-in kitchen commodities and comprehensive processes. In this structure, this food delivery giant also shares its know-how on order demand management. Like the Freshmenu structure, these cloud kitchens also offer a storefront where users can walk in. A mash-up between a takeaway restaurant and cloud kitchen, similar to the Freshmenu instance. Most of the cloud kitchen businesses in India choose this or the former model. So if you are wondering about how to open cloud kitchen on Zomato, you will get a guide on their official website.
How does it work?
- Orders come from Zomato
- Single kitchen, several restaurant “partner” brand
- The Restaurant handles the menu
- Zomato does everything else
- Users have the choice of walking into physical storefronts
6. The Kitopi Business Model
This is a relatively latest concept in the cloud kitchen business structure mix. In this structure, you can outsource everything from your call center functions, delivery, and your kitchen. Imagine a restaurant where a big majority of the kitchen preparation is outsourced and gets delivered to your kitchen. Your chefs can then do only the final touches and Kitopi picks it up for delivery again. This is also quite famous among the several loud kitchen business ideas.
How does it work?
- Orders come in through Kitopi owned call center, via your own online channels, and third parties
- Kitopi purchases and stores your raw materials
- Then “pre-prepares” the item in its centralized kitchen
- Kitopi then sends over the item to your kitchen for your final touches
- Pick it up and then deliver it to your users.
Wrapping Up
With the wave of technology crossing the restaurant sector, we can assert that the cloud kitchen business ideas are here to stay and would only grow multiple folds from this position, with minimum risks associated, you are still required to stay on your toes to make it a success. Employ any of the models that have been stated above to obtain the best outcomes from your business.
