For anyone thinking about starting a dark kitchen, the first thing to do is take a look at the pros and cons of the dark kitchens and read up on the fundamentals.
Then it’s time to look at the data and choose your dark kitchen business model. You need to find the right dark kitchen business model for your business. This will depend on the type of kitchen you want to run.
It could be a shared kitchen that houses multiple third-party brands, or a dedicated production kitchen out of which you run one or more virtual restaurants. Whichever way you choose to utilize the concept, here are the ten fundamental steps to get started.
Choose your location
One of the biggest benefits of the dark kitchen model is that you don’t have to pay top-dollar for prime high-street real estate. You can look at the raw search and ordering data from delivery apps and search engines and choose a location to best suit the demand.
Find your unique angle or niche
The next step is to find your unique selling point. You’re already aware of the demand in the area so now you can look for gaps in the market.
Either do something totally new or take something popular and do it better. Perhaps you can find innovation in a fusion of different cuisines, or take a popular product and put a new spin on it.
Plan your dark kitchen design and layout
Your design and layout will be determined by your choice of cuisine and business model. The advantage of a dark kitchen is that you can optimize the layout just for delivery orders. You don’t give over most of your space to the dining room, bar, and serving stations.
Food safety and other paperwork
The less glamorous side of dark kitchens is the part that could really come back to haunt you. You will need a health inspection before you can operate. You’ll need to document safe procedures for storage, food prep and cooking, and provide workflows. Then there’s other paperwork around ridge temperature monitoring, pest control, and much more besides.
Choose your delivery partners or go solo
The debate between using third-party delivery providers or in-house delivery rages on in the restaurant business. Taking delivery in-house means taking control of the entire process end-to-end but involves managing an entirely different operation.
Third-party delivery platforms are easy to set up and offer access to a wider customer base. But they take a commission on each order and you rely on their drivers for your final customer interaction.
Staffing your dark kitchen
Staffing is one of the biggest costs and headaches for restaurant operators. One of the benefits of the cloud kitchen model is the saving on labor costs compared to a traditional restaurant with a dining room and table service. But staffing your kitchen is still a major cost. Getting it right from the start is a big plus.
Optimize your menu for delivery
The look and content of the menu is one of the biggest decision factors for customers comparing different restaurants online.
It should be simple, enticing, and optimized for delivery. This means streamlining your menu to only include items that travel well. And looking at the data to see which items are the most popular, profitable, and efficient to produce.
Get on board with the latest technology
Dark kitchens, more than any other type of restaurant, are driven by technology. From the ordering platforms to the POS, to the kitchen display system and delivery tech. Just as you need an efficient physical workflow through the kitchen, your tech stack also needs efficient data flow.
Optimize for efficiency
Once your cloud kitchen is up and running, it starts to get really interesting. You go from theory to reality and you can really see how well your layout and tech decisions are working.
This is where having a solid tech platform is key. You can now analyze the data at every stage of order processing and production, to streamline operations and optimize your offerings.
Marketing your dark kitchen
Without the physical storefront and footfall of a traditional restaurant, you might wonder how to build a community of loyal customers around a virtual restaurant. The answer is you have to build the community online.
That means setting up a strong online presence, both on your own website, on delivery platforms, and on review sites and social media.