CLOUD KITCHEN

A New Opportunity

    In the last 5 years, the food service delivery market in India has been unprecedented change as new entrants have completely transformed the market dynamics and innovative models, exemplified by cloud kitchens, have been created and been successful. Today, the food service delivery market as a variety of players and business models.

    A cloud kitchen - also referred to as a "ghost kitchen" or "virtual kitchen" - is a commercial kitchen space that provides food businesses the facilities and services needed to prepare menu items for delivery and takeout. Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar locations, cloud kitchens allow food businesses to create and deliver food products with minimal overhead.

    The Indian food market which is slowly seeing a shift from unorganised to organised, is expected to be driven by the organised segment in the near future. Demand for the organised segment (QSR, dine-in and cloud kitchen) is growing owing to increasing internet penetration, safety and hygiene standards maintained by the players, according to internet-focused consulting firm RedSeer.

    Recent data indicates that meal delivery orders increased by more than 150% from 2019 to 2020 and UBS anticipates the food delivery market to increase more than 10 x over a 10-year period from $35 billion per year to $365 billion. More and more restaurants owners and food entrepreneurs are turning to cloud kitchens as an ideal business solution to capture this increase in food delivery demand.

    Delivery-only businesses-technically brand names - have ballooned in the past 18 to 24 months as they have emerged as a cost-efficient way to maintain business continuity and expand customer reach in an industry that was decimated by covid-19. Forced by the pandemic to adopt businesses were helped by the availability of technology and infrastructure solutions. Swiggy and Zomato have built large businesses. Favourable demographics (including young populations and urbanisations), Higher disposable income, more and better new restaurants (online deliveries and cloud kitchens with higher quality standards) are opportunities for to seek a new career.