Necessity is the mother of invention; and challenges are the best of the opportunities to test the unchartered waters. We all remember how we suffered during the lockdown right from getting groceries to medicines. But one industry that almost went to the verge of dying is the food & beverage industry, especially the small and mid-sized hotels/restaurants who thrived due to the thousands of footfall they received every day. Drying funds, and bills to meet, many of the hotels/restaurants closed their doors, but those few who invented and/or tweaked their process is slowly thriving and picking growth pace.

‘Kitchen-as-a-Service’, also known as Cloud Kitchen, Ghost Kitchen, Shadow Kitchens, virtual and dark kitchens, is gaining momentum and breaking itself from getting obsolete or dead. To break it into simple words, consider them as food factories where food is manufactured and then shipped to the final consumers. These kitchens are focused on providing quality consistent output at the lowest cost possible. Just to realize how big the market opportunity is, most research and consulting reports say that India’s Cloud Kitchen Market Size is expected to be around $1 billion by 2023. Another report by RedSeer Management Consulting has something better to say. According to it, the industry in India is projected to become a $2 billion industry in India by 2024.

What Boosts Cloud Kitchen Growth?
During the lockdown, the restaurant footfall almost went to hibernation while takeaway saw a major surge. CRISIL estimates that the recovery of the Rs.1.5 trillion sector will take at least a year post lockdown is lifted. On one hand, the pandemic has brought a new normal, and on the other hand, people are adapting methods to stay safe and maintain social distancing. This isn’t going off soon and hence acts as the perfect breeding ground for cloud kitchens. And hence the businesses who can capitalize on this shift in consumer behavior will create history in this evolving industry.

The other factors boosting cloud kitchen growth are low operational cost than the traditional restaurants as they operate from non-prime locations, low setup and introduction cost and larger focus on automation as the menu is limited with larger production. Working on a hub and spoke model, where hub is the central kitchen and spoke is the online delivery model, the format provides the Cloud Kitchens an appropriate focal areas of customer satisfaction through best food, with no diversions akin to customer service, restaurant ambience and more.

Perfect Time to Reap Changing Customer Mindset
Today’s youth have far too many options today when it comes to food – just like the OTT platforms for entertainment. While companies like Zomato and Swiggy have revolutionized the home delivery system in India, cloud kitchens are emerging on the back of this growing market. In the recent times, we can predict that most of the food cooked at home currently will be instead ordered online and delivered from central/cloud kitchens.

Even big hotels will turn towards such cloud kitchens which operate with higher degree of hygiene and certifications & approvals. This will also enable the biggies to reach to such customers who are now unable to reach such big restaurants. Indeed this space is untouched and has huge potential for the food & beverage industry. But the trick lies on offering the best of food and taste. This will mean that guests will come back if you have timely delivery and great food.

Let the feast begin and cloud kitchen serve our taste buds!