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Why dark kitchens can be bright business moves for QSRs
Dark kitchens — a.k.a. virtual, ghost or cloud kitchens — are becoming the new little darling of the restaurant industry. Here are some guidelines on how to approach the dark kitchen decision and get the most efficient model up and running.
February 25, 2020 by Syd Bishop — Content Specialist, QSR Automations
It's impossible to ignore the buzz over off-premise dining. Because of that, owners and operators looking to capture a bigger slice of the pie, have begun development of dark kitchens — customer-free restaurants that are designed specifically to cater to off-premise diners.
Consumers reported that around 60% of their restaurant spending was on off-premise orders. That's a staggering figure and one that perfectly illustrates why off-premise ordering is an essential for QSR operators. For enterprising restaurateurs, robust restaurant technology suites that analyze and route orders have made opening a dark kitchen easier than ever.
Also known as ghost, cloud or virtual kitchens, dark kitchen development has risen to match the 300% growth in off-premise and delivery orders. Dark kitchens are designed exclusively to feed your off-premise diners, allowing your brick-and-mortar sit-down restaurant the space it needs to focus on incoming guests. A dark kitchen can operate as an extension of your kitchen or as an entirely separate entity.
Keep in mind that if your dark kitchen operates on the same premise as your sit-down restaurant, then you can use integrated technologies designed to help strategize your off-premise delivery options. For example, platforms exist that route orders to the appropriate stations and provide real-time data analytics, allowing operators to provide customers with realistic order-ready times.
The QSR dark kitchen difference
For QSRs, adding a dark kitchen can make a difference. For instance, if your restaurant is already providing off-premise service — whether that be internally or through a third-party vendor — how is it keeping up with traffic on the busiest days and how are you ensuring all guests leave satisfied? And if you're using a third-party vendor (or if they are using you), how do you ensure quality control?
Your first step is gauging customer interest. You can do that by word-of-mouth or by posting a poll through you're your brand's social media channels. You can also use data analytics tools to determine how many of your orders come from off-premise.
Of course, if you find that the need is there, you can move to enhance your delivery opportunities. Once you have a threshold for your how much business your restaurant can support without losing quality or output, then you can determine if you want to get a dedicated dark kitchen or simplify your delivery service internally.
Dark kitchen key decision: location, location, location
The answer to where you should house your business may seem relatively straightforward, but as in all things, there are opportunities to explore. You must ask questions, like whether it needs to be on the same premise as your restaurant. Also ask what the strategic reasons might be for any given locations, and then, whether there is anything nearby available to rent, lease, or (if warranted) own? Similarly, really evaluate whether you actually have the space needed in your existing restaurant to squeeze in the necessary stations to make a dark kitchen work?
Pricing the area is a call away. You can use the analytics you pulled to figure out how much you need to bring in to make it worth your while. Keeping your dark kitchen in the same location is likely more affordable, plus you have eyes on the process and final product.
But also remember that you can overcome the logistical hurdle of having separate locations with certain real-time analytics tools. Having your dark kitchen in the same building also makes it easier to share resources, like food and staffing.
Another alternative to the norm is that you don't have to have a restaurant at all. Opening a delivery-only restaurant unconnected to a previous concept is an affordable way for burgeoning restaurateurs to get started.
These can be in locations that you secure separately, or you can rent a pre-existing kitchen that you might share with another restaurant during their off-hours. In fact, some entrepreneurs are running things at an even more basic level — directly out of their home kitchens.
However, if you choose that last strategy, make sure you're legally cleared to sell food from that kitchen with local health officials, then really spend time on creating a great menu and develop a sharp marketing strategy to spread the word.
Timing the launch + finding the team
Using data analytics, you can figure out when your best hours of operation might be. For example, maybe your off-premise orders are strongest on the weekends, so build your initial hours of operation around the order data you currently have.
Don't be afraid to start small and build from there. Calculate the total sales you need to bring in and establish the hours needed to make that happen. Remember that you can always add more hours later.
For existing operations, deciding who you staff there depends on your analytics. If you have sufficient staff at any of your existing restaurants, then begin there by rotating staff in and around your operation.
Bear in mind that for some of your staff, having a shift away from the general public may allow team members to practice their skills in a comparatively calmer environment, providing a nice alternative to in-restaurant shifts. If, however, you already know you have the traffic, then hire a dedicated team to handle your dark kitchen.
Make sure that you have not only the back-of-house staff that you need but someone to handle the expo station. In this case, you should choose an individual who can serve as a customer advocate.
Expo staff can double-check the food for quality, and they can log order-ready times on the bag to let customers know when the delivery was prepared and ready for transport from the kitchen. That's a vital step if you're using a third-party vendor when you typically have no control over your product once it leaves your hands.
Equipping for excellence
A dark kitchen needs all the same things needed to make any other kitchen operate, but there are a few tools that can enhance the experience you provide customers. The heart of your dark kitchen is a kitchen display system or KDS. This restaurant logistics and analytics tool can help cut ticket times without sacrificing quality.
Other pieces of technology to consider for your dark kitchen, include:
- Tag-on-touch functionality, which allows operators to mark specific completed items on a given order without removing the whole order, acting as an excellent quality control mechanism.
- Recipe viewers are especially helpful for kitchens that operate with a rotating staff because they are quick and easy guides that help keep orders consistent.
- Sticky printers allow you to create receipt tickets that you can affix to orders, which helps your staff check order to ensure everything is being correctly delivered.
- A restaurant analytics tool gives you insights into which items move and when, which helps operators schedule and engineer menus as well as plan for the future.
- Load balancing capability helps operators ease stress during ultra-busy times by automating your KDS to share work with stations that have the ability to help at that time.
- Graphical displays can be key in helping staff identify orders by color-coding to enhance efficiency and speed.
- Real-time restaurant analytics apps pull and comb through a kitchen's data after hours, allowing operators to monitor business in the moment, spot check and account for any potential pain-points as they arise.
Off-premise dining has the potential to increase by 16% annually over the next five years. That's a lot of money on the table and something you can capitalize on with the low overhead of a dark kitchen.
A dark kitchen allows in-house operations to flourish since staff isn't split between guests on- and off-premise. Once you've established the need, take small first steps to get started. Consider abbreviated hours and. potentially, a shortened menu to streamline order speed and efficiency.
And if establishing your own delivery operation seems impractical, go ahead with that third-party vendor or vendors, but mark your orders with the time they were sent out and keep records so you can determine which vendors get the job done and which do not. The result of that efforts and others outlined here will help bring guests back for seconds.
About Syd Bishop
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