CloudKitchens, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

[Count Bobulescu]

According WSJ, Uber's Travis Kalanick (1st negative) recently raised $400M from the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund (2nd negative) for his newest venture CloudKitchens a sort of We Work for delivery only restaurants.

If the restaurant industry is to be disrupted, I'd prefer it was done by someone other than Kalanick. Contrary to the Axios claim, that immigrants of color will be the biggest losers, I think it will be the TGI's of the world. Not that the small ethnic restaurants won't get hurt, but those pad sites can be expensive

 

https://www.axios.com/restaurateurs-face-increasingly-digital-industry-571f5855-34a9-4de2-a406-5a2da1c4e647.html

 

https://www.cloudkitchens.com/

 

[MsDiPesto]

What's the difference between these warehouse kitchens and commercial kitchens?

[curiouskitkatt]

Inside DoorDash's Silicon Valley ghost kitchen, a 'WeWork for restaurants' that allows tenants like Chick-fil-A to focus on food delivery,  businessinsider.com

 

[Count Bobulescu]

Commercial kitchens typically come attached to expensive real estate/build out, and require patrons to visit. Under the CloudKitchens formula, numerous different "brands" can share a lower warehouse cost, to open new kitchens at a fraction of what it would otherwise take. 

 

A 2,000sqf sit down might pay $30 - $60 a ft in a suburban location.

500sqf at $15 in a warehouse, and with fewer staff, starts to look good. Lower costs allows offering "free" delivery at standard prices.

[MsDiPesto]

52 minutes ago, Count Bobulescu said:

Commercial kitchens typically come attached to expensive real estate/build out, and require patrons to visit. Under the CloudKitchens formula, numerous different "brands" can share a lower warehouse cost, to open new kitchens at a fraction of what it would otherwise take. 

 

A 2,000sqf sit down might pay $30 - $60 a ft in a suburban location.

500sqf at $15 in a warehouse, and with fewer staff, starts to look good. Lower costs allows offering "free" delivery at standard prices.

Apologies, I should have said commissary kitchens where small operations would make, say, spirits,  sausages, savory spreads, or jams and jellies, or breads, etc. or even full blown catering to sell to restaurants, etc. Couldn't commissary kitchens in industrial parks do the same as this CloudKitchens venture?

[Count Bobulescu]

14 hours ago, MsDiPesto said:

Apologies, I should have said commissary kitchens where small operations would make, say, spirits,  sausages, savory spreads, or jams and jellies, or breads, etc. or even full blown catering to sell to restaurants, etc. Couldn't commissary kitchens in industrial parks do the same as this CloudKitchens venture?

Sure,  but it's the corporatisation of commissary kitchens. I guess the intent is to dominate the industry ASAP, like the Uber model. Establish proof of concept first in the US, then internationally. 

 

One 10,000sqf warehouse with some communal infrastructure, might have 15 kitchens per, say 100,000 people, equals a lot of warehouses. A 15 kitchen operation might have 10 chain brands and 5 local/ethnics. 40 warehouses/600 kitchens to service metro DC. 

 

I doubt you can make the warehouses too big, because of a need to stay local, to avoid long delivery routes. Then market both the individual brands, and the shared warehouse delivery concept, to the local community, again with shared costs, via DoorDash, UberEats etc. I think the concept will work better in suburban than dense urban locations. Currently, they are in LA, SF, and Chicago.

[curiouskitkatt]

Looks like Kroger is getting in on the action too! 

[Count Bobulescu]

On 12/4/2019 at 12:28 AM, curiouskitkatt said:

Looks like Kroger is getting in on the action too! 

They're expanding online only wine sales from 14 to 19 states. The significance is that they are moving into areas where they don't have any stores, (something Amazon tried on its own and abandoned years ago). They're partnering to fulfil. The range of wines available is less than fifty.

Expanding Wine Delivery Also