How to Start a Ghost Kitchen

What is a Ghost Kitchen?

Ghost kitchens are food prep operations with no waiters, no dining room and no parking lot. You may wonder how a ghost kitchen can operate with no other workers or physical space. Ghost kitchens actually operate and thrive primarily through food delivery apps. 

Through these apps, customers can conveniently order on their devices and have their food delivered to them without having to do anything more. Meanwhile in the kitchen, the order gets received and fulfilled online, then it gets delivered straight to the customer. This approach saves time and money compared to dealing with a traditional restaurant because not only do you save on spending for extra workers, you can also opt to rent out a smaller area for your kitchen, and the whole process is much more efficient.

Ghost kitchens can be used to launch an entirely new business, or to expand the delivery range for an existing brand. They are versatile since they can be fully stand-alone or be an add-on to your restaurant.

Ghost kitchens are still a relatively new concept, but they have been gaining popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic when many businesses went digital. Some businesses never had the opportunity to open back up, while others are thriving and taking advantage of this new business strategy. According to Statistica, the global market size of ghost kitchens was valued at over 40 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 and is expected to grow in the future. ​​Additionally, U.S. Foods reports that ghost kitchens are expected to be a $1 trillion industry by 2030. 

Before Starting a Ghost Kitchen 

Before starting a ghost kitchen, it is important to make sure you have the fundamentals down when it comes to the technologies involved and how to maintain a strong digital customer base:

1. Ensure You Have a Strong Website

Having a strong website is important when considering a ghost kitchen business. You will need a user-friendly platform where customers can easily order and pay online. This will ensure your customers will have a good online experience with your business. The business website can be simple, and should be updated every once in a while.

2. Build Your Online Presence

Once you have your website up and running, it will be easy to build your online presence. Since ghost kitchens rely on food delivery apps and services, it is crucial to pay attention to your online presence. These days, having an online presence can make or break a business. Setting up social media sites will help you to alert your customers about updates, and even if you can only post once every couple of weeks, you’ll soon build a sense of authority in the digital space. It is also useful to link these social media sites on your business website. Adding on to this, having an online ordering service linked on your website will be very beneficial. There are several options you can choose between for this as well, such as an online marketplace or template based site. You can learn more about this in our previous blog.

3. Find a Reliable Online Ordering Service

A ghost kitchen heavily depends on a reliable online ordering system, since that is how it will primarily operate. A reliable online ordering system will let customers order from your restaurant with ease. It should be both user-friendly and fully operational, providing order information, customer information, and accurate updates so that you can run your ghost kitchen smoothly. 

4. Find a Good & Populated Area for Your Restaurant

To start a ghost kitchen, you will need to rent out a space for your kitchen. Similar to food trucks, ghost kitchens are usually located in densely populated areas. This ensures the most amount of attention and will most likely bring in more customers.

Even though ghost kitchens operate online, your storefront location is important to consider as a more populated area will give you more exposure to potential customers compared to a rural area.

How ZeMaas Can Help You With Your Ghost Kitchen

ZeMaas offers many different add-on features and bundles with our online ordering service that can help you with every step of the way. Whether you want to start a ghost kitchen or want to enhance your ghost kitchen experience, we’ve got you covered! 

Our Online Ordering Platform

ZeMaas can help you with building your online platform. Our online ordering platform will provide an all-in-one solution for including a direct online ordering link for your customers to order from, a business management portal, and a delivery tracking service. Our solution is configurable for any device, so you and your customers can access our service on any device. 

After booking your free demo, we can set you up with your online ordering site within 24 hours! We also offer 24/7 technical support, so you will never be alone in this process.

With your online ordering site, you can display your restaurant’s menu for your customers to order directly from you. It is a convenient solution for online ordering with white label branding so that you can customise your brand’s online representation to your standards. With this service, your customers are able to customise their orders and send you personalised order notes for further modifications.

Manage Orders & Your Business Information

Included in our online ordering platform is access to the Maas Business app. With this app, you can easily manage your business on the go. You can view all your current, past, and pending orders and update your customers on their order progress. You can also manage your menu however you want, with different item sizes, modifiers, add-ons and more all on one platform! Maas Business also allows you to edit your business information, from your working hours and your item availability in stock. Keep real-time updates on your business and orders to ensure customer awareness and satisfaction.

Have Your Own Delivery Drivers?

Another additional service that we offer along our online ordering is a delivery solution for your in-house drivers. We can help you with managing your deliveries and drivers through our Maas Driver app. With accurate real-time tracking, enabled chat services and performance reports, it’s never been easier to perform deliveries seamlessly. The Maas Driver App will make it easy to upkeep the management of your drivers and orders going out, not having to worry about any external costs or issues. Keep track of all your drivers and ensure top quality service for your customers. 

Choosing to go with third-party delivery drivers is another option to consider, however it would cost more and there are some disadvantages in doing so. You can learn more about having your own delivery drivers vs third-party drivers in our previous blog here.