CLOUD KITCHEN – A DEPARTURE FROM THE CONVENTIONAL

Today I am going to write on a Topic that is gaining more and more attention of late in the era of Digital marketing and sales i.e. CLOUD KITCHEN. Before shedding more light on the Concept of CLOUD KITCHEN, let us know what it stands for.

A Cloud Kitchen is a food place with no physical existence. Like a Restaurant or an eating joint has a presence and a dine-in space or a take facility, a Cloud Kitchen doesn’t offer such facilities. It relies entirely on third-party integrations or home delivery orders placed on call or through a website. Therefore, A Cloud Kitchen is a food place very different from its traditional contemporaries but offers the same experience if you want to enjoy your food, sitting at home with your family and watching The Kapil Sharma Show (for fun sake).

The food space has seen the advent of Cloud Kitchen because of the operational Flexibility it offers using the same infrastructure facilities. Cloud Kitchen gives a Food operator that psychological edge to penetrate the market which a perennial Food place won’t offer.  In the Food Industry, businesses are usually adjudged by the name they adopt.

For Example: A Food Joint operating under the name of Samosa Factory is thought of mastering the taste and variety of Samosa’s it offers but what happens when the same Joint owner decides to launch fresh variety of Italian cuisine into the menu at the same sitting space. He might well now be able to attract customers who want to enjoy Italian Cuisine at his place even though he is able to put quality into the other cuisines. The reason is simple. People are most likely order pasta from a restaurant named La Italiana instead of Samosa Factory even if the same chef is preparing the pasta.

Thus your Trade name does leave psychological barrier when it comes to diversifying your offerings.

So what does the Food operator do? Instead of adding different cuisines into his menu for the same sitting place, he starts a new brand altogether to bring that psychological edge into his favour. He brands his new cuisine reminiscent of its origin. Like for example, he would offer his new variety of Italian cuisine under the brand name of La Pino Italia, thereby leaving an impression of specialty with the consumers.

Now the next question that comes into the mind is that how can one operate a Cloud Kitchen. Let me list out the steps:

1. Order taking in a Cloud Kitchen

Since the source of order taking is online, A Cloud Kitchen POS is the basic step. This is so because there are multiple restaurants and multiple channels being dealt with when it comes to collecting orders in a cloud kitchen and it is virtually impossible to keep up with different orders pouring in from different sites without a POS that will not only handle this task but also give you an analytic report regarding it.

When you have multiple brands operating at the same outlet, you need a robust POS system that can give you detailed insights about the number of orders received for each brand.

• Obtaining FSSAI Registration or License

FSSAI stands for Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, every Food Business Operator in the country is required to be licensed/registered under the Food Safety &Standards Authority of India. Whether a Cloud Kitchen operator has to secure Registration or License under the Act depends upon the scale, turnover of the Business. If the Cloud Kitchen Operator is operating in more than one State, then he will have to secure Central License along with a State License for every State he operates in.

Before obtaining FSSAI Registration/License, a Cloud Kitchen cannot be legally started.

• GST Registration

Though GST Registration is only mandatory if the Annual Turnover of a business is more than Rs. 20 Lakhs, it might be a wise decision to secure GSTIN where the inward supplies are in huge quantities and the kitchen operator has to pay GST on those supplies. After securing GSTIN, an operator can obtain the benefit of input credit i.e. setting off the GST paid on inward supplies with the GST gained on outward supplies.

• Focus on Digital Marketing

Cloud kitchens have very less visibility comparing to restaurants with physical outlets. Hence it is important to have a strong online presence. Social media sites such as facebook, instagram, pinterest can help a Kitchen operator spread his reach into the market. Regular updates to engage customers makes them try out your food. Online listings on Food Delivery Platforms like Zomato, Swiggy is also a must to enhance your presence.

How opting for a Cloud Kitchen model going to benefit you?

Following key points will help you understand the revolution that Cloud Kitchen is going to bring in the coming times:

• Multiple Branding under a single hood. As mentioned earlier, a Cloud kitchen allows a single Food operator to serve the public under different brands using the same Facilities. In addition to the flexibility it provides, a Food operator saves on the investment as well.
• Less on Staff, Cost and space but more on orders. Reduce your cost and increase your revenue.
• Increase your visibility online with blogs, Snapshots of your cuisines can be posted on different Social Media Sites to increase your visibility and induce the public to try your offerings.

CLOUD KITCHEN will gradually become the new source of Ghar jaisa khana being served on your table.