{"id":69021,"date":"2023-02-12T14:48:21","date_gmt":"2023-02-12T21:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=69021"},"modified":"2023-02-12T14:48:21","modified_gmt":"2023-02-12T21:48:21","slug":"trendy-ghost-kitchen-movement-gives-food-startups-strong-beginnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2023\/02\/12\/trendy-ghost-kitchen-movement-gives-food-startups-strong-beginnings\/","title":{"rendered":"Trendy ghost kitchen movement gives food startups strong beginnings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Not your ordinary kitchen:<\/strong> One of three REEF Wendy\u2019s trucks is parked at 1000 5 Ave. S.W. in Calgary on Fri, Jan. 20, 2023. REEF Kitchens opened a Wendy\u2019s “For Delivery Only\u201d franchise in May 2022. (Photo by Abby Panes\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

G<\/span>host kitchens are a growing trend in the food industry, and they’re catching on in Calgary.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201c[A ghost kitchen] is a kitchen, which is virtually and only visible on your screens,\u201d said Karan Kannure, area leader of REEF Kitchens and REEF Technology in Calgary. \u201cThese kitchens do not actually exist. There\u2019s no front of the house, and there\u2019s no dine-in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main goal of ghost kitchens is the fast movement of food.<\/p>\n

\u201cREEF came up with the concept of these ghost kitchens where they could be deployed in parking lots. And the idea behind having these in the parking lots was to get closer to the neighbourhood,\u201d said Kannure.<\/p>\n

REEF then uses delivery platforms to get orders into the hands of customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere we are virtually visible is SkipTheDishes, UberEats and DoorDash here in Canada,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ghost kitchens benefit start-ups that cannot afford thousands of dollars to invest in a brick-and-mortar outlet. The concept also facilitates faster expansion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you were to go through a brick-and-mortar expansion\u2014even to set up one location\u2014it would take you a year or a couple of years easily,\u201d Kannure said.<\/p>\n

REEF Kitchens have been in the market since 2019. In May 2022, they partnered with Wendy\u2019s and launched three locations in under a year.<\/p>\n

While some brands found success in the ghost kitchen movement, others were not as successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen some brands come and go also. Some brands did not find success\u2014we could not do justice for them with regards to expansion into the country or into the markets,\u201d said Kannure.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0REEF has an impressive roster of brands that have benefitted from the concept.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we start a brand in one city and it is doing really well, REEF on its own will take it to another city in the same province and then in a neighbouring province,\u201d said Kannure. \u201cAnd if all the boxes are checked, then we take it to other provinces in other parts of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

While REEF has leveraged the ghost kitchen method to give brands a start in the food industry, other startups have also benefited from the movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the pandemic, PAO YYC came about because we cannot do any gatherings and cater large events. I have a kitchen, but I cannot use it for those reasons. That\u2019s why we turned it into a ghost kitchen,\u201d said John Nidua, former executive chef of Residence Inn by Marriott Calgary and owner of Tycoon Catering and PAO YYC.<\/p>\n

But unlike REEF Kitchens, which has a full team, Nidua only had himself and his wife to post on social media, take orders through their website and deliver them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not sign up for DoorDash or SkipTheDishes, because I cannot afford them, as I sell my products at a reasonable price,\u201d Nidua said.<\/p>\n

PAO YYC operates out of a full-on commercial kitchen, complete with a walk-in fridge, fryer, etc.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything\u2014you name it\u2014and a bigger space. It\u2019s just our market is small,\u201d said Nidua.<\/p>\n

Nidua found ways to keep overhead costs low by operating as a ghost kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe area where we live was 50-plus living,\u201d he said. \u201cIn return for renting the place, I do their events, and they give me a good deal on the lease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through the ghost kitchen movement, PAO YYC was able to reach a thousand followers on social media and get featured on Avenue Calgary and CBC.<\/p>\n

We want to identify these local heroes and get them on board because both REEF and the small businesses benefit out of this. – Karan Kannure<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

REEF continues to be open to working with food startups.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all game for local heroes \u2014 for these small businesses \u2014\u00a0because every city has that character and has those famous joints. We want to identify these local heroes and get them on board, even for ice cream or wings or even bubble tea, because both REEF and the small businesses benefit out of this,\u201d Kannure said.<\/p>\n

It all boils down to being a good fit.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cAll we need is to agree on terms, and we need to see if your product makes sense to our concept or to the equipment we have inside our vessel,\u201d he said. \u201cIt really depends upon how we can execute and incorporate it into our concept.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ghost kitchens are a growing trend in the food industry, and it\u2019s catching on in Calgary. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":718,"featured_media":69022,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S1 Ghost Kitchens","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1431],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-69021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-city","8":"category-food-and-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/718"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69021"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69458,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69021\/revisions\/69458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}