They are not the next big thing. They are the big thing right now: Whether called a ghost kitchen, dark kitchen, cloud kitchen or virtual kitchen, they don't know any guests, but nevertheless they have their finger on the pulse. They are fast, they are innovative and they know exactly what works and what doesn't. But how do they do it? What is the right concept? The right menu? The right kitchen set-up? With the support of Progressive Content's Michael Jones and Stephan Leuschner from RATIONAL, dive into in a series of the most exciting topics that gastronomy currently has to offer. In each webinar you'll hear different perspectives from specialists and the opportunities ahead.
Interesting for:
After numerous ghost kitchens have established themselves in recent years, Michael Jones looks beyond the horizon in the fifth session. Four proven experts from the food service industry show how they became successful in the ghost kitchen segment and which concepts will remain in the industry in their opinion.
Thierry Rousset, Founder & Senior Franchise Consultant
With over 30 years of experience in Franchising and Foodservice, Thierry has worked at top level positions for some of the largest restaurant franchise networks. In 2012 he founded his own company to offer his broad experience to franchisors of all sizes.
Randy Murphy, Founder and CEO of OrderB4, will answer questions like: What technology solutions are needed in a multi-brand, ghost kitchen environment? Is there an end-to-end platform that can support ecommerce and operations without having to integrate many costly and difficult to manage systems?
Marc Choy, President at Ghost Kitchen Brands
A senior, well rounded development/franchising executive with over 20 years’ international experience. Marc wants to work with brands that are growing and passionate about the impact they have on people’s lives.
Stephan Leuschner will of course return to provide insights about new concepts and address how lean kitchen processes contribute to a successful operation.
The boundaries between supermarkets and Ghost Kitchens are merging closer to each other. When supermarkets no longer just deliver food but also cooked meals? When Ghost Kitchens cooperate with supermarkets and are suddenly visible in the checkout zone.
But is it worth it? What are the prerequisites?
Michael Jones talks about this with
A Ghost Kitchen is always in flux: the menus change, the clientele grows, expansion plans emerge. In the third Trend Talk, Michael Jones shows how to be properly positioned for growth, what to consider when it comes to kitchen equipment and how successful others are on the road. Together with experts from the industry, he discusses growth opportunities and growth risks.
Success is dependent on well-planned operations – at least that's what the industry experts in this session think. We will look at the opportunities offered by ghost kitchens from several angles and provide solutions for a wide range of industries:
In a nutshell: why not plan your future success right now?
Ghost kitchens became an important part of today’s foodservice and restaurant landscape and are here to stay. But how can you make a success of this new opportunity? Pivoting your existing concept or creating a perfect ghost kitchen set-up from scratch? In this Trend Talk session Marc Dempsey from GlobalData, Joseph Schumaker FCSI from FoodSpace and Stephan Leuschner from RATIONAL address the growth potentials within the Ghost Kitchen market and present what an ideal kitchen set-up could look like and what needs to be considered.
With over 30 years of experience in Franchising and Foodservice, Thierry has worked at top level positions for some of the largest restaurant franchise networks such as Subway, McDonald's, Burger King, as well as more recently for Spanish restaurant group Avanza Foods as GM for their Dark Kitchen & Virtual Brands division. Thierry is also a "Franchise Expert" and founded QSR Consultant® in 2012 to offer his broad experience to franchisors of all sizes.
A senior, well rounded development/franchising executive with over 20 years’ international experience. Marc wants to work with brands that are growing and passionate about the impact they have on people’s lives. As a franchise brand executive, he has comprehensive experience in franchising (identifying, qualifying, closing candidates), developing target market strategies, recognizing business opportunities, operations, relationship building, and the understanding of what it takes to lead a team to drive brand growth.
Randy has been in technology, multi-unit/brand restaurant operation and delivery logistics for nearly 30 years, and founded the company that developed OrderB4 in mid-2019. OrderB4 is a white-labeled SaaS platform that enables ghost kitchens, virtual restaurant brands and multi-brand operators an all-in-one operations solution. OrderB4 enables Direct to Consumer (D2C) lead generation, multi-brand online ordering, marketplace order integration, order management & internal logistics including KDS, delivery routing, financial payment routing, consumer loyalty, feedback, recovery and remarketing.
Uwe looks back on almost 30 years of experience as a brand and marketing strategist for global blue chip brands. Eight years ago he joined Japanese agency network Hakuhodo and heads its German and European strategy teams. He believes that the agency’s philosophy of sei-katsu-sha – of looking at the whole person rather than just her role as consumer – can help discover new business opportunities in every market. In his speech, he demonstrates how to apply the approach to branding in the ghost kitchen and delivery market.
Charlie has a broad background of working in real estate and building fast-growing start-up businesses. Since the very start, Charlie has been in the ghost-kitchen space, leading the 'Roobox' concept at Deliveroo, which later became known as 'Deliveroo Editions'. Charlie heads up the Delivery Kitchen and Dark Store division at PKL, helping fast-moving delivery apps and operators open up and scale worldwide.
Francesco is co-founder of Kuiri cloud kitchen and started in January 2021 with the first location, and as of now, they have two cloud kitchens in the city centre of Milan with 5 and 8 kitchens each, with more than 15 active brands. Cassera is part of the business development, international operation and intelligence officer at Kuri.
Voted 'Editor of The Year' at the CMA's International Content Marketing Association Awards 2020, Michael Jones is Editorial Director for Progressive Content in the UK. An experienced editor and writer, since 2013 he has headed up the content team for Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI), including its multi award-winning, quarterly magazine Foodservice Consultant and website. Michael also writes for additional clients in the foodservice sector, including KTCHNrebel.
RATIONAL’s expert for international foodservice industry and ghost kitchen projects, business consultant and former Executive Chef will share insights how to develop your individual solution to setup optimized kitchens for delivery-only purpose.
Simele has been in the entrepreneurial space for over 10 years, venturing from meat processing all the way to franchising and courier services. Fifteen months ago we decided to start Jozi Cloud Kitchens, after seeing this growing trend around the world. We now own the biggest ghost kitchen company in South Africa, with a 655 square meter facility, housing 10 kitchen and over 16 brands.
Khalipha has been an investment specialist for over 11 years and holds an MBA from Cambridge. I am an experienced financial professional and I have used this to help build the biggest ghost kitchen facility in South Africa.
Andy is from the UK and is a multi award winning Chef and Operations Director. He has been working in the catering industry for over 32 years. His career has taken him around the world and given him great insight and opportunities. From industrial bakeries and highstreets brand development, to high net worth Client dining for the richest people in Asia to first in class lounge service, wellness solutions for education and business, large volume events and banqueting, logistic and centralised production solutions. Andy’s diverse experience in operational and project management gives him a creative mindset in the art of the possible for any business.
Mark brings over 20 years of experience in the foodservice, retail and FMCG sectors to GlobalData. Mark joined the GlobalData team in 2017 following five years living in Canada where he was an insights leader for PepsiCo and strategy consulting leader for the NPD group. In his role at GlobalData, Mark brings bold thought-leadership to global partners across the manufacturer, retailer and distributor segments.
After graduating with honors from the California Culinary Academy, San Francisco, Joe co-founded Cosmopolitan Catering in Sunnyvale, CA. Joe left Cosmo in 2015 and started FoodSpace where he and his team consult as experts in kitchen design, foodservice management, food business growth strategy and mentorship.
Benjamin Nothaft works with retailers and specialists across the globe on implementing modern hot food solutions. Here he will share some of the key success stories but also key factors to implement concepts.
Ghost kitchens were already a strong trend before Covid-19 turned the world upside down. A Trend Talk webinar from Rational debates their place in the foodservice offering of the future.
Once you know the rules. You leave the game as the winner. They are shooting up like mushrooms and they are the new stars in the gastronomy sky, known for innovation and flexibility. Ghost Kitchen, Dark Kitchen, Cloud Kitchen.
Food delivery means eating what you want, wherever and whenever you want it. It’s a huge market already, and these days, it’s practically exploding. One fairly cool new resulting development: ghost kitchens.
Abandoned parking lots in the shadows of tall bridges, romantic industrial settings, skylines… is this really where the gastronomic revolution is going to happen? Here, among the shipping containers that blend harmoniously into the desolate landscape? Of course!
The growth of dark or ghost kitchens has accelerated in this challenging year as the delivery-only concept has provided foodservice operators with a different way to trade during the pandemic.
RATIONAL is the world market and technology leader in the field of hot food preparation for professional kitchens. With their knowledge and experience in the ghost kitchen sector, they support you to create additional business and customer experiences with innovative concepts and solutions.
KTCHNrebel is an international online magazine for professional chefs that want to make a difference. It’s all about ideas, innovations, and trends happening in our loud, messy, fabulous kitchen lives. We profile role models, discuss current issues, and look to the future.
Progressive Content is a full-service content marketing agency and content technology provider, specialising in B2B. We help clients transform their communications and build stronger relationships with customers and members through intelligent content that makes complex ideas engaging and practically addresses audience challenges.
