4 ms·

Maybe what we really want is an “independent and locally owned” option on these apps. I’m just as disinterested in corporate ghost kitchen pop ups as I am high

by jjj123 4y ago

Maybe what we really want is an “independent and locally owned” option on these apps. I’m just as disinterested in corporate ghost kitchen pop ups as I am high end chains that venture capitalists have money in. I’m still with the OP, though, since I think that option would filter out 90% of ghost kitchens.

chefandy 4y ago
It really depends on where you are. About 90% of the ghost kitchens in my city are independently owned because about 95% of the restaurants that offer delivery are independently owned. Also, I've yet to see an actual unbranded corporate pop-up, let alone one that offered delivery. Maybe you mean an alternate menu produced in a corporate restaurant operating under a different brand?
- jjj123 4y ago
  This could be SF specific, but I mean whatever comes out of CloudKitchens [1] and the like, regardless of whether or not CK calls its ghost restaurants “independent contractors” or “small business owners” or whatever. 1. https://cloudkitchens.com/locations/san-francisco-bay-area https://cloudkitchens.com/locations/san-francisco-bay-area
  - chefandy 4y ago
    Whatever comes out is what... Corporate? The tenants highlighted on that page seem independent. Their copy entirely targets independent small vendors. I've seen one or two franchises operate from them but we're talking single digit percentages. A successful independent restaurant gets a 2 or 3 percent profit margin. Big name restaurants get a lot more than that. They've got a plan, workshopped broadly appealing products, and name recognition that gets butts in seats even in the most competitive, epicurean scenes because they're a known quantity. Many people value comfort and safety over new, fashionable, and refined experiences in their food choices, even occasionally. If a Michelin starred restaurant in the US served a burger at their bar, it would probably be the best selling item they had. If corporations can tack a few new delivery menus onto their existing kitchen for the price of some web consulting, then sure. If it means shedding all the value they've built over the years to do a no-name pop-up located in an office building outsourcing the technical infrastructure they've already built? Not likely. Even for medium sized local restaurant groups it's probably not a great fit unless they already had the big expansion plan in place. I think you're subconsciously reacting to the bland, tech-ish aesthetic these places adopt because their uniform online presence is included in the rent and their branding was done by someone on fiverrrr who wouldn't know the difference between the food scenes in San Francisco and Cheboygan if you funded their yacht, let alone for the $60 they bid on the project.

by jjj123 4y ago

chefandy 4y ago

It really depends on where you are. About 90% of the ghost kitchens in my city are independently owned because about 95% of the restaurants that offer delivery are independently owned. Also, I've yet to see an actual unbranded corporate pop-up, let alone one that offered delivery. Maybe you mean an alternate menu produced in a corporate restaurant operating under a different brand?

jjj123 4y ago
This could be SF specific, but I mean whatever comes out of CloudKitchens [1] and the like, regardless of whether or not CK calls its ghost restaurants “independent contractors” or “small business owners” or whatever. 1. https://cloudkitchens.com/locations/san-francisco-bay-area https://cloudkitchens.com/locations/san-francisco-bay-area
- chefandy 4y ago
  Whatever comes out is what... Corporate? The tenants highlighted on that page seem independent. Their copy entirely targets independent small vendors. I've seen one or two franchises operate from them but we're talking single digit percentages. A successful independent restaurant gets a 2 or 3 percent profit margin. Big name restaurants get a lot more than that. They've got a plan, workshopped broadly appealing products, and name recognition that gets butts in seats even in the most competitive, epicurean scenes because they're a known quantity. Many people value comfort and safety over new, fashionable, and refined experiences in their food choices, even occasionally. If a Michelin starred restaurant in the US served a burger at their bar, it would probably be the best selling item they had. If corporations can tack a few new delivery menus onto their existing kitchen for the price of some web consulting, then sure. If it means shedding all the value they've built over the years to do a no-name pop-up located in an office building outsourcing the technical infrastructure they've already built? Not likely. Even for medium sized local restaurant groups it's probably not a great fit unless they already had the big expansion plan in place. I think you're subconsciously reacting to the bland, tech-ish aesthetic these places adopt because their uniform online presence is included in the rent and their branding was done by someone on fiverrrr who wouldn't know the difference between the food scenes in San Francisco and Cheboygan if you funded their yacht, let alone for the $60 they bid on the project.