Sandi Saksena
NEW DELHI: A ghost, dark, cloud, virtual; what comes to your mind? Something eerie, weird, sci-fi, perhaps! No. It’s a food service business that serves customers exclusively by pick-up and delivery based on phone/app and online ordering.
A rapidly growing trend, cloud kitchens, also known as ghost kitchens, virtual, or dark kitchens, continue to gain massive popularity, started during and post-Covid time, when the convenience of online ordering and food delivery became the norm. The operative words here are efficiency, optimisation and online visibility. They are dark or ghost in the sense that they operate out of sight, and cloud or virtual because they use online ordering tech to connect with the customers.
Types of kitchen
So, for the uninitiated, a traditional Dark Kitchen is owned/rented by a single brand that owns the facility generally specialising in a single type of cuisine and relies on third-party delivery channels.
A Multi-brand Dark Kitchen is shared by multiple brands, a single cloud kitchen under the umbrella of a parent company. Through, sharing the kitchen and equipment, brands offer different cuisines and dishes. This business model enables brands to maximise efficiency and minimise operational costs. Takeaway Dark Kitchens are similar to the traditional ones, except they allow customers to wait and collect their orders.
Then there is the Outsourced Dark Kitchen that outsources anything it can and the people working there only have to add the finishing touches to the meals. It is more customer-facing as it allows the team to focus on delivering the customised order.
Aggregator-owned Dark Kitchen, like Zomato, and Deliveroo, offers a fully equipped kitchen for restaurants to rent. These dark kitchens can concentrate on meal preparation while the place owner handles everything else.
The aggregator business model is based on adaptability, powered by automation and access to data that assists in accuracy. Data and analytics help cloud kitchens make informed decisions regarding menu changes, pricing strategies, marketing efforts, and operational improvements. Analyzing customer preferences, order patterns, and market trends helps optimise business performance.
Food delivery aggregators improve operational efficiency for restaurants that use multi platforms. No extra manual work to monitor channels, log in orders, or switch between tablets! Every order automatically shows up in the same system, in the order in which it was placed, The data gathered through aggregators reveals that majority of respondents put the speed at which an order arrives as an important factor when selecting food delivery.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that not only was the food I ordered delectable, the quality presentation and freshness was on point. By offering popular choices, cloud kitchens appeal to the multicultural demographics of the UAE. The healthy and sustainable choices, offering nutritious and eco-friendly food delivery options, are at another level.
Saving time, effort
Cost-wise not exactly low, but keeping in mind the quality and selection that includes organic salmon, wagyu beef, shellfish etc. with organic vegetables, organic salads, premium fresh juices and awesome desserts, I have concluded it’s a good deal. It saves time, effort and offers variety.
It also gives one time to relax and enjoy a variety of delicious meals with family or friends. Beyond their main function of choice of cuisine, most include features to simplify the checkout process and offer popular payment options
Virtual kitchens become a rapidly growing trend
Cloud kitchens in Dubai currently make profit margins of 15-30 per cent, almost tripling the single-digit margins in traditional restaurants. There are currently over 400 cloud kitchens in the UAE, operating from 80 locations, most of them based in Dubai. The UAE Dark Kitchens/Ghost Kitchens/Cloud Kitchens market size was valued at $430 million in 2025 and is expected to reach $1,082.6 million by 2032.
Sandi Rich Management Consultancies Executive Editor Impact Publishing Strategic Partner Women’s Run 2025 Cancer run 2025