Webinar How to start a dark kitchen: a summary of the key points and highlights
In our first webinar about dark kitchens, we discussed digitalization, legal framework and profitability. We would like to thank you for your interest and support in this webinar! This article will be a short summary of the points we discussed together.
We are thrilled to have presented this webinar regarding dark kitchens. We had discussions on digitalization, legal framework, and profitability, in which many of you participated. We thank you for your interest and support in our first webinar! This article will be a summary of the points we discussed together.
Who are the speakers in this webinar?
For this webinar, we were lucky to have an exceptional panel! We are proud to have been able to discuss with these four people, without whom this webinar would not have been as successful. Therefore, we would like to thank in particular:
Sophie Schumacher: Co-founder of La Frégate, launched two and a half years ago, Sophie accompanies restaurant owners in their entrepreneurial adventure, from the moment they open their doors to the moment they search for premises.
Edouard Hausseguy: Edourard is the co-founder of LightKitchen, a company launched in October 2020 that allows you to rent a kitchen on a short, medium, or long-term basis to launch your own dark kitchen without taking too much financial risk.
Félix Fioriois the co-founder of Foudie, a dark kitchen launched at the end of 2020 in Toulouse. It brings together 8 online brands. Although it is a dark kitchen, it has a storefront location, which allows it to create a close relationship with customers.
Alexandre Leboeuf: As a partner manager at Deliverect, he helps restaurant owners manage delivery by integrating point-of-sale systems and centralizing online ordering platforms. He was the moderator of the webinar held on Tuesday, March 30, 2021.
Some statistics on the delivery market
While delivery has only been a phenomenon for a few years, the COVID-19 health crisis seems to have accelerated this trend by 3 to 4 years, and it is expected to continue.
Delivery is expected to account for 19% of total catering turnover by 2024, a significant increase from only 6% in 2018.
Today, there are between 500 and 1,500 dark kitchens in France, with around 5,000 brands on delivery platforms.
How do you choose the location of your dark kitchen?
Although a dark kitchen has the advantage of limiting the costs associated with the location, finding premises to launch your dark kitchen is still essential.
Indeed, a dark kitchen only requires a small surface area and does not require a service room or staff.
Félix Fiorio chose a dark kitchen that is open to the public to avoid associations between dark kitchens and lack of hygiene. Together with his partners, he chose a glassed-in area where customers can talk to the cooks. This also allows him to integrate a Click & Collect solution on his website via Deliverect. This solution brings in around 10% of its monthly turnover.
The important thing is to set up in an area where demand is high and supply is limited, so there is little competition.
It is also essential to monitor different culinary trends to understand the consumption habits of the population you wish to reach.
How much does a dark kitchen cost and how can it be profitable?
Launching a dark kitchen requires an investment of at least €50,000, but everyone agrees that this depends on the number of brands launched, the premises, the equipment used and the structural work carried out, etc. On average, a dark kitchen costs between €150,000 and €400,000.
Everyone has their own strategy for profitability. Edouard Hausseguy selects products from Italy, which allows him to be profitable while offering quality products. He also explains that he can divide his ingredients between his different virtual brands.
For Sophie Schumacher, the winning combination for profitability is being able to absorb the flows, hoping to make volume, and being fast regarding execution.
Similarly, for Félix Fiorio, profitability depends on the productivity of the employees. You have to be able to send a quality dish in a very short time. In fact, he adds that the delivery platforms have an algorithm and that the speed of delivery allows you to appear at the top of the platform.
Edouard Hausseguy adds that profitability also depends on the cost of delivery platforms. He told us that he makes €17,000 in sales on Uber Eats in a week, but that 30 to 36% of the commission is taken by the delivery platforms, representing about €5,000 in costs.
The key to the success of dark kitchens is digitalization
Nowadays, digitalization is the key to a successful dark kitchen. Indeed, apart from the cooks who do their job as they have always done, everything nowadays goes through IT.
For the management of its brands, Félix Fiorio relies on 100% digital through different tools:
The various POS integrations that Deliverect offers reduce the number of shelves, particularly thanks to the centralization of order menus and reporting.
Planning management with Snapshift allows for a more fluid organization and avoids Excel tables.
Remote management tools that enable stock management to be anticipated, employee productivity to be consulted, etc.
Digitalization is also the best way to make your brand known. Everyone agrees that social networks are now the front of a dark kitchen.
Edouard Hausseguy tells us that it is necessary to "make noise," even before opening, whether on the internet or by sponsoring your brand in the catchment area. Thanks to his Instagram page, he has gathered a clientele of around 20,000 people before opening. For him, the savings made on premises and staff should be invested in marketing. He advises not to skimp on the budget and to invest between €2,000 and €7,000 in communication.
The menu and the product itself must follow to retain customers. As he likes to say, "Instagram brings a customer once, but a good product brings a customer 50 times."
Félix Fiorio also gives us some tips for launching a dark kitchen. To be among the first restaurants offered on the app, invest in social networks, of course, but also in the algorithm of delivery platforms like Deliveroo or Uber Eats.
What is the future for dark kitchens?
Although dark kitchens have often been criticized, particularly because they seem to be "taking the place" of physical restaurants, each of the speakers was keen to say that delivery responds to a new consumer behavior, but that it is complementary to traditional restaurants.
As Sophie Schumacher put it so well, delivery replaces the obligation to cook or shop, but in no way replaces the desire to go to a restaurant, which represents a place to live, an atmosphere, a social moment.
Edouard Hausseguy added that cooking is becoming more and more of a hobby and not a necessity, and that dark kitchens are not killing the classic restaurant business. He mentions a study which states that 90% of French people say they can't wait to go back to the restaurant, even if they continue to have their food delivered.
Today, delivery corresponds to another need to consume, it is the consequence of an evolution, generated by mobile phones, but it will never bring the same experience as in a restaurant.
In conclusion, we can see that we are moving towards a hybrid ecosystem, where restaurants are turning to delivery and the launch of a dark kitchen, as a complementary income, while keeping their classic physical restaurant.
Want to find out more? Several webinars will be offered on a regular basis. Stay tuned to hear from other professionals on this topic! And if you were unable to attend this first webinar, or if you would like to watch it again, you can watch the replay by clicking here.
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