What a ghost kitchen can do for you as a caterer

A ghost kitchen has no terrace, no front-of-house and sometimes not even its own website. Just a kitchen that cooks for delivery. In the big cities they've become ordinary within a few years. For you the question is simpler than the trend pieces suggest: can you keep your kitchen running on the days it would otherwise be quiet?

Where they came from

Two things came together. Meal delivery grew fast, and a unit in a busy city got too expensive. Restaurants that had to close their dining room during the pandemic kept cooking for delivery and stuck with it afterwards. What started as a stopgap turned out, for some, to simply add up better: the same revenue, without the dining room and without front-of-house.

What it is

You'll come across them as ghost kitchens, virtual kitchens and dark kitchens. It's all the same thing: a kitchen that only makes meals for delivery or collection. No seating, no front-of-house. One location often runs several brands at once, each with its own menu and its own audience.

That's appealing because you can try out an idea without fitting out a unit or hiring staff. If it doesn't work, you just take the menu offline.

Where it gets interesting for caterers

Most catering kitchens sit idle for a good part of the week. Not much happens between two jobs, while the rent and the equipment keep running. That's where the opportunity is: extra revenue, without throwing your regular work off balance.

What caterers use it for:

• Takeaway meals for businesses nearby
• Lunch and drinks boxes you deliver yourself
• A seasonal menu: a BBQ box in June, a festive menu in December

What you need to sort out properly

You never see your customer. So everything hangs on the packaging, the presentation and whether it arrives on time. Four things that usually go wrong:

• The delivery platforms' commission, which takes a sizeable bite out of your order value
• Customers you never get to know, and who can walk away just as easily
• Plenty of competition in the popular categories
• A kitchen trying to do two kinds of work at once and grinding to a halt

That last one is the real risk. A twenty-euro delivery order comes in right when you're busy with a buffet for eighty people. Whoever hasn't thought about that in advance ends up deciding under pressure in the moment.

Two kinds of work in one kitchen

Delivery and events run differently: different times, different quantities, different buying. Two systems side by side doesn't work. One list of what needs to be ready that day does.

In Catermonkey, your delivery orders and your catering jobs sit in the same week. Same prep lists, same buying, same invoicing underneath. It works the same way from a fixed kitchen as from a food truck or an event venue: both kinds of work sit on the same planner. You can see at a glance whether that Tuesday still has room.

A ghost kitchen isn't a second business. It's your existing kitchen, during the hours it would otherwise sit empty.

Read also: Allergen list for caterers: what do you have to state?

Frequently asked questions

Can I do this from my existing catering kitchen?

Usually yes. Your kitchen already meets the preparation requirements, so the step is smaller than for someone starting from scratch. What you need to arrange separately is the cooling and storage for orders that go out the door at different times to your bookings.

Do I need a separate licence?

That depends on your local council and on what your lease or zoning plan says. The food safety requirements are the same as for your catering work, but delivery from a location can be regulated differently locally. Check it before you start, not after.

Do I have to work through a delivery platform?

No. For businesses in your own area, delivering yourself usually works better: you keep the margin and you keep the customer contact. A platform mainly makes sense if you want to reach individuals you don't know yet, and then you pay for that with commission.

How many brands can I run from one kitchen?

Technically plenty, practically a lot less. Every brand has its own buying, its own packaging and its own preparation. Start with one, and see whether you can run a second alongside it in a busy week without the quality slipping.

What do I do when a delivery order clashes with an event?

Decide in advance how much delivery you can take on during an event day, and close off orders above that. That's a decision you make calmly, not one you make at six in the morning with the phone in your hand.

Catermonkey puts your delivery orders and your bookings on the same planner, so you can see what a day can still take on.

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