Ghost kitchens boom as food deliveries grow

In Nairobi, delivery meals and takeaways seem to be the new business for out-of-job Kenyans. But where is the food being cooked from?

Takeout entrepreneurs hunting for cut-rate space in the pandemic are renting ghost kitchens. A ghost kitchen, also known as virtual, cloud, dark, satellites or delivery–only kitchens only prepare food for takeaway.

Unlike the traditional restaurants with kitchens that prepare food for both dining and delivery, these kitchens have equipment for takeaways only without separate space for restaurant layout for in-house dining or walk-ins.

Lesiamon Sempele, an executive chef at Deli and Bakery, a commercial satellite kitchen under The Good Earth Group in Gigiri, Nairobi says the dark kitchens have now transformed to serve consumers that are on a budget and do not want to eat from a restaurant.

These kitchens have gained traction with the changing dining habits due to the pandemic as restaurants remodelled for takeaways. “Satellite kitchens have always been there. Think of the people who do meal preparation for different customers and then send the food out. They have a pop-up menu that they do every week or on a rotational basis,” he says.

These kitchens could be at home or in a small commercial space in a city. They can be rented for hours, days, or leased for a period. Such is being built at Marsabit Plaza, along Ngong’ Road in Nairobi.

“We have got many people who are cooking and selling food out of their home kitchens. There are some known for a particular dish. So as a consumer you know of someone who cooks chicken wings very well, but not in a restaurant. All you know is that you can order in,” Chef Sempele said.

20,000 followers

Delivery apps such as Glovo, Jumia Food, Uber Eats, Bolt Food list the kitchens but with no address like traditional hotels.

Uncle Nene’s Kitchen, for instance on Instagram, has profiled itself as a cloud kitchen with almost 20,000 followers.

The kitchen is also on UberEats and specialises in burgers and fries.

“Most consumers are not concerned about where they are located but only care about the wait time and cost.”

The ghost kitchens are also growing from the need to provide affordable food similar to the roadside vibandas concept that has grown from the trust between consumers and the vendors.

“Just like the tea lady walking around town or offices selling boiled maize, mandazis, pancakes, or samosa, consumers do not know where they have come from but they trust them.”

Capital

Putting up a ghost kitchen has lower costs in investments as opposed to having a service team and overheads incurred by restaurants.

Mr Semple says a quality commercial kitchen could cost more than Sh10 million. A bigger capacity kitchen could range from Sh16 million to Sh25 million.

“Restaurants are expensive to run. Not so many people have that kind of money, hence it is easy to set up a satellite kitchen.”

Individuals preparing food from their homes and smaller dark kitchens mostly cook ready-to-eat food which is prepared on customer orders or in line with the day’s menu.

Large commercial kitchens such as the Deli and Bakery, prepare food items in bulk, portion them and store them in a freezer.

They have sections for preparing, storing different foods such as meat and vegetables, and cold rooms with large capacity refrigerators or freezers.

The food packaging indicates ingredients, allergies, a recipe, and expiry which could be three months to a year for the frozen meals.

Chef Sempele says the ghost kitchens provide convenience for people with less time to cook at home.

“Things are slowly changing. Everyone wants convenience and if there is someone who can make life easier by bringing food into your house without fail, that will save you a lot from thinking about what you need to cook, shopping for the ingredients and cuts on processes,” he says, adding that renting of kitchens is a new concept and no one has gotten down on the costs so it could be hard to tell.

“This is the future of the food industry.”