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'From pizza to pad thai' -- Kroger-Clustertruck partnership puts ghost kitchens in Midwest metros

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December 3, 2019

U.S. grocery superpower, Kroger, has partnered with delivery-only software platform, Clustertruck to offer a ghost kitchen concept that will serve multiple menu delivery-only offerings from a central kitchen with no service or delivery fees.

The virtual restaurants are initially rolling out in Carmel and Indianapolis, Indiana and the restaurant mecca of Columbus, Ohio. In Denver, Clustertruck-powered King Soopers delivery kitchen will serve customers in that market.

"The way our customers order and receive meals is evolving, and Clustertruck's innovative culinary and digital design is cracking the code for the future of profitable meal delivery," Kroger's CIO Yael Cosset, in the release. "Kroger is leveraging clustertruck's advanced technology to ensure our customers don't have to sacrifice quality and value for convenience when it comes to meal delivery. 

"Kroger delivery kitchen powered by Clustertruck will allow our customers to access restaurant-quality fresh and delicious meals like never before and without having to pay excessive service or delivery fees." 

Customers in Carmel, Indianapolis and Columbus can place orders by downloading the Clustertruck app or going online to krogerdeliverykitchen.com. In Denver, customers can go online to kingsoopersdeliverykitchen.com.

Indianapolis-based four-year-old Clustertruck owns and operates vertically integrated delivery-only kitchens that are powered by proprietary software. The company said that it uses special algorithms to optimize operations that it says ensure most orders are in customer's hands "within 7 minutes of the meal's preparation." The company said the average time from order placement to customer receipt is under a half-hour. 

"Kroger Delivery Kitchen customers can order pizza or pad thai on the same order and get it delivered hot and fresh, within minutes of the meals being prepared," Kroger's Group Vice President of Fresh Suzy Monford said in the release. 

Kroger's already employs about 500,000 people, serving more than 11 million customers daily, while Clustertruck has locations in Indianapolis, Columbus, Denver, and Kansas City, Missouri.