Case Study: Packin Bowls’ Expansion with CloudKitchens
Meet Packin' Bowls: A unique blend of healthy bowls with a twist, brought to you by the Furlough Brothers.
Packin' Bowls launched multiple brands under one roof
Overview
From furlough to success, Michael and Sam, the original owners of Furlough Brothers, decided to take their hospitality expertise to their newest brand: Packin’ Bowls. Featuring a wide variety of healthy bowls, including a Fajita Bowl, Greek Bowl, and Bulgogi Bowl, they’re dishing up a variety of delicious flavors that are bringing in more customers, new and old. After creating Furough Brothers cheesesteaks, they decided to pair their flavorful, in-house seasoned meats over rice in addition to the classic cheesesteak sandwich. From this, Packin’ Bowls was born.
Putting their heart and soul into everything they do, Michael and Sam weren’t going to let the pandemic stop them from achieving their goals. Instead of opening up multiple brick and mortar locations, CloudKitchens provided them with a faster solution for launching multiple brands under one roof.
What made CloudKitchens the right fit for their restaurant brands?
Before ghost kitchens, Michael and Sam initially thought of launching a food truck business. Once they researched their local market, they realized they would be able to reach more customers online and gain brand awareness through ghost kitchens and online delivery apps, rather than a food truck or brick and mortar. Here's what they both had to say about their experience with CloudKitchens:
“As we've continued to hone in on our formula for success, the ghost kitchen model has continued to be a part of our growth strategy because it allows us to go live in multiple markets quicker and at a lower price."
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What is a ghost kitchen?
Ghost kitchens, also known as dark kitchens or virtual kitchens, are commercial kitchens built for food delivery. They’re located within the delivery radius of a high volume of online customers, rather than high foot traffic areas. With ghost kitchens, there’s no physical storefront or dining area, so you only need a few back-of-house staff members to fulfill online orders.
How does a ghost kitchen work?
In a ghost kitchen, your restaurant is focused on delivery rather than dine-in. When eaters order your food online, you’ll prepare it from your ghost kitchen, and hand it off to a fulfillment team to get the order over to the right delivery driver. This gives restaurateurs a low cost, high efficiency model to get the most out of delivery.
Are ghost kitchens profitable?
Yes. Ghost kitchens allow restaurateurs to increase profitability by maintaining the essential elements of a restaurant while cutting costs on labor, overhead, and wasted food while reaching a higher volume of customers ordering online. Plus, you can run multiple virtual brands out of a single ghost kitchen to increase revenue without the extra overhead.
Why are ghost kitchens so popular?
Ghost kitchens are rising in popularity because they’re a lower cost alternative to operating a traditional restaurant. They’re also focused on delivery, which has grown 300% faster than dine-in since 2014. That means restaurateurs are using ghost kitchens to future-proof their business and accelerate growth.
How does a ghost kitchen help your restaurant grow?
Ghost kitchens help restaurateurs grow their business by doing delivery right. The way we dine has changed, and ghost kitchens allow restaurant operators to capture food delivery demand without sacrificing their bottom line. They’re also a great way to expand to new markets without spending time and money on a traditional restaurant buildout. You can easily expand your restaurant brand to different cities across the country such as Los Angeles or New York.
How much do ghost kitchens cost?
The cost of ghost kitchens varies by market, space, and services. Compared to a traditional restaurant, they’re a much lower cost alternative on both upfront capital and ongoing operating costs. You can get started in a ghost kitchen with as little as $30K, instead of $1M+ for brick and mortar buildout.
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