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What is Cloud Kitchen? 

A Cloud kitchen or Ghost kitchen is a virtual kitchen setup. It is a commercial space where food is prepared, but only for takeout and online delivery. A cloud kitchen does not offer a sitting space for customers like cafes, hotels, or restaurants. For someone who wants to promote their food business or catering services, a cloud kitchen could be a great option without breaking the bank. It requires very little space and can even be started from home. You don’t even need many employees, or maybe no one, to start a cloud kitchen business. 

Cloud kitchens have recently started becoming popular in India, especially after the Covid times. From big food companies to local caterers and food providers are seizing this growing opportunity to promote their business. On average, a cloud kitchen offers around 20-25% profit margin. However, the exact statistics depend upon the total number of orders sold in a day. You can deliver food delivery via your own delivery platform or can register on platforms like Zomato and Swiggy. 

Benefits of a Cloud Kitchen Business

There are numerous benefits of having a cloud kitchen. For a start, it does not require a huge space for sitting in order to sell the food. A cloud kitchen also minimizes the labour and logistics requirements to maintain the sitting space. Let’s now check out the many more benefits of a cloud kitchen or ghost kitchen. 

• Affordable Setup

Setting up a cloud kitchen does not require a lot of money, space, or logistics. You can start it right from the kitchen of your home without a big space. If you are a startup trying to make a name in the food industry, cloud kitchens can save you from space rent, maintenance expenditures, labour requirements, etc.   

• No or Less Staff Requirement

In the absence of dine-in, there is no need for cleaning staff, security, waiters, etc., saving you a lot of expenses. You can also decide on the number of chefs for your cloud kitchen, as the food preparation will depend on the number of food orders that you take. So, it’s the number of food items to be prepared is in your hands. 

• Wide Customer Reach

One big advantage of running a cloud kitchen business is that your food is not restricted to one specific location. Rather, it is reaching people across the whole town or city. With the use of food delivery apps or social media, your food can be exposed to a huge audience who appreciates it. 

• Optimised Menu 

In a cloud kitchen setup, it is easier to customize the food according to the customer’s demand. The food is generally prepared in less quantity, depending on the order received. So, it’s easy to meet the customers' demands, which is rather difficult in a traditional kitchen setup where the food is prepared at once for many customers. 

Check out: Top frozen food brands in India to buy in 2024.

How to Start Cloud Kitchen Business in India?

Firangi Bake, Oven Story, Biryani By Kilo, Sweet Truth and Burger In My Box are some of the most popular cloud kitchens in India. These food brands started their business as a cloud kitchen, and now many of them have their own dine-in space in multiple cities of India. Anyone can start a cloud kitchen with the right resources and a good marketing strategy. 

1. Choose the Right Space

The food preparation definitely needs some space with good electricity, water connection and proper hygiene. It could be a rental space or your very own kitchen at home. It’s better if the cloud kitchen is set near your customers' demographics. It will help reduce the delivery expenses. Many other factors, like what type of food you are providing or what is your target customers can also play an important role in deciding the cloud kitchen setup. For example, if you make food items like pav bhaji, chaap, chole bhature, dosa, chowmein, burgers, etc., which young adults like, it’s better to set up the cloud kitchen near colleges or hostels. This way, you can also receive a lot of takeaway orders and will not completely depend on online orders. 

2. Licence and Trademark Registration

Getting a food license is crucial if you want to grow your cloud kitchen business. It not only saves you from any legal difficulties but also generates trust among the customers for your food and services. Also, having a brand name and logo is essential to develop a brand identity and create customer loyalty. There are a few registrations and licenses you need before starting a cloud kitchen in India. 

• FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) license

• Fire and safety license

• Trade license

• GST registration

• Trademark registration

3. Deciding the Menu

Another crucial step in setting up a cloud kitchen business is selecting the right menu. For instance, you create a menu with 80% non-veg food items, but the city where your cloud kitchen is located has mostly vegetarian people. Or your menu contains a majority of the items whose ingredients are not available nearby, hence creating procurement issues for you. So, opt for a menu depending upon the customers' food choice, ingredients procurement, chef’s cooking skills, resource analysis etc. 

4. Food Order and Delivery Platform 

Now, you have to decide how to receive food orders and how to deliver the food to your customers. Most cloud kitchens use food delivery partners like Zomato, Swiggy, and Uber Eats to receive orders and deliver food. What you have to do is register your cloud kitchen business on these food delivery platforms, and your brand will be visible on their apps. The customers can place orders on these apps and the delivery executive of these apps will take food from you and deliver it to the right customer. All you have to do is prepare good quality food. However, you can set up your own website and delivery service as well. 

5. Staff Requirement

A cloud kitchen requires a minimal staff of 3-4 people, such as one person taking care of the orders and bills, another preparing the food, and one cleaning the space. You can manage the number of staff depending on the food orders you receive each day. As the profit margins increase or the order intake increases, you can always scale up the staff. 

6. Good Marketing 

A good marketing strategy can take your cloud kitchen business to the next level. There are many marketing techniques that you can use to reach your customers. It includes an online registry of your cloud kitchen on browsing platforms like Google. So that when people search for “bakery near me” or “burger near me” etc., your business appears in the result. Another way is social media marketing. You can advertise your cloud kitchen on various social media platforms to increase your brand awareness. You can also use SMS and E-mail marketing to give a personalized touch. 

7. Create Customer Loyalty 

Customer loyalty is crucial for any business to grow and prosper. The same is true for your cloud kitchen. A distinguished brand name and good packaging can separate your food from the rest. The quality of your food, hygiene, and delivery time are other factors that decide whether your customer will order again from your cloud kitchen. 

Check out: How to get Zomato Gold Membership for free?

How to Open Cloud Kitchen on Zomato? 

Most of the newly opened cloud kitchens connect with Zomato to boost their brand visibility and reach the large pool of customers. You can also open a cloud kitchen on Zomato after following some steps. 

• Create a Business Account

The first step is to create a business account and then visit the Zomato Partner portal. You have to register your cloud kitchen business on that portal by giving the basic information like business name, address, contact details etc. 

• Complete the Registration

Now you have to provide Zomato with other details like your GST registration number, FSSAI license number, menu, price, etc. 

• Verification 

After you provide all the required details, Zomato will contact a basic verification to ensure that your cloud kitchen meets its business standards and guidelines.

• Approval 

Once successfully approved, your cloud kitchen will be listed on Zomato and will appear on its app. 

Bottom Line 

If you enjoy the idea of providing delicious cuisine to people, you should consider opening a cloud kitchen business. After reading the above article, you already have an idea of what is cloud kitchen and how to start cloud kitchen business. You can even start a cloud kitchen business from your house kitchen. All you have to do is focus on the good quality and hygiene of your food to grow your business. If you like this article, do share it with your friends and family. 

Questions You May Have

Q. What is cloud kitchen meaning?

Ans. Cloud Kitchen is a type of virtual kitchen set-up which offers takeaway or online food delivery service. It does not have a dine-in arrangement like traditional kitchens. 

Q. What does CloudKitchens do?

Ans. Cloud Kitchens offers takeaway and online food delivery services to customers. It is a type of kitchen which requires minimal resources to set up. 

Q. Is Zomato a cloud kitchen?

Ans. Zomato is not a cloud kitchen, as it does not prepare the food. Zomato is a food delivery partner which collects food from a kitchen or restaurant and provides you. 

Q. Is Swiggy a cloud kitchen?

Ans. No, Swiggy is not a cloud kitchen but a food delivery service. It’s job is to collect food from restaurants and provide it to the customers. 

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