联合厨房联盟的虚拟餐厅将立足美国各大城市

云厨房又称幽灵厨房。“厨房联盟”Kitchen United是最早的云厨房经营商 ，他们花了不少时间才走到今天。

“厨房联盟” 该公司成立于2017年，是美国云厨房领域的领跑者之一，位于加州的帕萨迪纳市的公司当时仅有六个活跃的地点，比CloudKitchens和Reef等竞争对手相比，少得多，这似乎令人惊讶。

但是，该公司为自己有分寸的做法感到自豪，而且实际上已经有一段时间处于增长模式了。到今年年底，它的规模将扩大两倍，达到18个地点。

"该公司的首席商务官阿图尔-苏德（AtulSood）在周三由瑞士信贷主办的网络研讨会上说："现在我们知道它是有效的，而且现在我们已经犯了为学习业务而需要犯的错误......我们准备扩大规模。

"他说："我在美国的每个大城市都看到了这一点。

那么，对于仍然年轻的幽灵厨房业务，KU到底学到了什么？

首先，该公司最初是作为餐馆卸载多余的送餐和外卖量的一种方式而设想的。苏德说，早期的口号是"我们把餐厅外的东西拿走"。但随着业务的发展，出现了一个不同的情况。

"我们发现的是，主要的用例是扩张用例，"苏德（Sood）说。"我们喜欢与那些在某一特定市场拥有品牌知名度的品牌合作，他们利用我们来扩展到邻近的市场。"

他指着小型连锁店Hawaiian Bros Island Grill说，它一开始在堪萨斯州有四家分店，后来利用KU扩展到芝加哥和德克萨斯州的奥斯汀。

"中端市场品牌的扩展是一个很好的用例，"Sood说。

该公司还了解到，引进比这小得多的概念是不明智的。

"苏德说："我们看到最成功的是那些拥有五个以上单位的经营者。"因此，一个拥有一两个单位的独立公司如果想扩大规模或成为一个区域品牌，如果他们没有成功地经营过五家餐厅或更多，他们一般就没有能力成功地做到这一点。"

它还为其概念确定了收入目标，使餐厅和公司都能盈利。

"索德说："一般来说，我们的目标是使餐厅的AUV达到100万美元左右。"我们有一些离群索居者，他们的收入在400万到500万到700万美元，这是很了不起的。"

厨房联盟向其餐厅收取月租金，并从通过其专有的Mix订购系统进行的每笔交易中抽取15%。

位于芝加哥环路德的[厨房联盟]分店里, 顾客正在点餐

（照片来源：Restaurant Business, 记者 J.Guszkowski)

Customers order at KitchenUnited's Chicago Loop location. / Photography by Joe Guszkowski

苏德说，该公司喜欢在其中心提供大中型连锁店和新兴品牌的组合，细分为大约40%的企业、30%的中型市场和30%的新兴品牌。这个比例可能会根据卖场的形式而变化。例如，在其与克罗格（Kroger）商店的新合作中，其厨房将被顾客看到，因此该公司希望以提供有趣和视觉体验的品牌为特色。

"苏德说："我们在那里有一个拉面的概念，看到面条和所有东西是一种很酷的感觉。

它的扩张战略将继续是全渠道的，以传统的厨房中心、虚拟食品馆、杂货店和商场的组合为特色。

"他说："我想你会看到，在未来几个月里，我们和其他有进取心的房地产持有者会发布更多关于这类事情的公告。

根据该公司的网站，在南加州、德克萨斯州、佛罗里达州和纽约的新地点正在进行中。苏德说，除了瞄准达拉斯和迈阿密这样的大城市外，Kitchen United还计划进入二线市场，并将在比这更小的地区进行试验。

他指出，该公司在各种环境中都取得了成功，从芝加哥这样的密集城区到亚利桑那州斯科茨代尔这样的郊区。

"他说："它在任何地方都是有效的。

** 原文参考：Joe Guszkowski of Restaurant Business, 于2021年8月26日报道

------ ---------- ------------------------------ ----------------

2021年一月中旬，【厨房联盟】KitchenUnited 签下了第二个位于芝加哥的虚拟餐廰食街地点，位于芝加哥的环路商圈(Chicago Loop) ；这也是KU  的第五个云厨房（虚拟餐廰）

随着公司继续执行其幽灵厨房扩张计划，Kitchen United已经签署了其在芝加哥的第二个租赁协议。第五家也是最新的KitchenUnited MIX店将位于威尔斯街222号，在地标性建筑商品市场以南几个街区。

这家新店位于城市中心被称为Loop的街区，是数字工作者和年轻家庭的密集地。它将位于现已关闭的威尔斯街市场的原址。

重塑后的商业空间将容纳10个厨房，以类似于食品大厅的形式布置在整个物业内，并将在空间的中间有一个中央订购和取货区。该地点最终将开放室内和室外的座位。

"芝加哥对Kitchen United品牌的欢迎程度令人难以置信，继2018年我们在River North成功建立厨房中心后，我们很高兴能加强我们在该市的存在，"Kitchen United首席执行官Michael Montagano说。"位于Wacker & Wells的KitchenUnited MIX将为寻求终极便利和选择的消费者提供无缝的外卖体验。此外，我们期待着通过我们的轻资本机会，支持那些希望利用店外业务持续蓬勃发展的心爱的餐饮品牌，使他们能够以最小的前期成本和较低的风险实现增长。"

KitchenUnited MIX为消费者提供了从不同餐厅概念中批量订购的机会，减少了对 "晚餐吃什么 "的争议。订单可以很容易地混合和匹配，以满足一个人对中餐的渴望，而另一个人可以在同一张票上得到比萨。外卖订单可通过Kitchen United的亭子订餐技术和网站进行，也可通过第三方市场进行配送（如适用）。

诸如Chick-fil-A、Panera Bread和SmokeyBones等品牌目前与Kitchen United在其NorthSedgwick分店合作。所有品牌都雇用自己的员工专注于共享厨房空间内的烹饪，而Kitchen United的员工则负责处理垃圾清理和向顾客及送货人员分发订单等工作。

Kitchen United (KU) set up new to-go food hall (ghost kitchen)location at Wells Street Market, Chicago

厨房联盟（KU）在芝加哥威尔斯街市场开设了全新概念的虚拟餐廰外卖食街（又称幽灵厨房）

KITCHENUNITED SEES ITSELF IN ‘EVERY BIG CITY IN AMERICA’

Afteryears of measured growth, the ghost kitchen provider is ready to apply itsexperience to rapid expansion.

By Joe Guszkowskion Aug. 26, 2021

Ghostkitchen provider Kitchen United has taken its time to get here.

Foundedin 2017 and one of the leaders in the U.S. ghost kitchen space, it may seemsurprising that the company based in Pasadena, Calif., has just six activelocations, much fewer than competitors like CloudKitchens and Reef.

Butthe company prides itself on a measured approach, and has actually beenin growth mode for a while. By the end of this year, it will have tripled in sizeto 18 locations.

“Nowthat we know it works, and now that we’ve made the mistakes we need to make tolearn the business ... we’re ready to scale,” said the company’s chief businessofficer, Atul Sood, on a Wednesday webinar hosted by Credit Suisse.

“Isee this in every big city in America,” he said.

Sowhat has KU learned, exactly, about the still-young business of ghost kitchens?

Forone thing, the company was initially conceived as a way for restaurants tooffload excess delivery and takeout volume. An early tagline was “We takeoff-premise off-premise,” Sood said. But as the business developed, a differentscenario emerged.

“Whatwe found is that the primary use case is an expansion use case,” Sood said. “Welike to work with brands that have brand recognition in a particular market,and they use us to expand into an adjacent market.”

Hepointed to the small chain Hawaiian Bros Island Grill, which began with fourlocations in Kansas and has since used KU to expand into Chicago and Austin,Texas.

“Midmarketbrands scaling is a great use case,” Sood said.

Thecompany has also learned that it’s not wise to bring in concepts much smallerthan that.

“Thesuccess we see most is from operators who have more than five units,” Soodsaid. “So an independent with one or two units who wants to scale or become aregional brand, they generally don’t have the wherewithal to do so successfullyif they haven’t successfully operated five restaurants or more.”

Ithas also identified revenue targets for its concepts that will allow both therestaurant and the company to be profitable.

“Ingeneral, we aim for restaurants to have an AUV of about $1 million,” Sood said.“We have some outliers who are at $4 to $5 to $7 million, which is prettyremarkable.”

KitchenUnited charges its restaurants monthly rent and also takes a 15% cut of eachtransaction that comes through its proprietary Mix ordering system.

Thecompany likes to offer a combination of large and medium-sized chains andemerging brands in its centers, with the breakdown being roughly 40%enterprise, 30% mid-market and 30% emerging, Sood said. That ratio can varydepending on the format of the outlet. In its newpartnership with Kroger stores, for instance, its kitchens will be visible tocustomers, so the company wants to feature brands that offer a fun and visualexperience.

“Wehave a ramen concept in there where it’s kind of cool to see the noodles andeverything,” Sood said.

Itsexpansion strategy will continue to be omnichannel, featuring a mix oftraditional kitchencenters,virtualfood halls,grocery stores and malls.

“Ithink you’ll see, from us and other progressive-minded real-estate holders,many more announcements in the coming months with this type of thing,” he said.

Newlocations are in the works in Southern California, Texas, Florida and New York,according to the company’s website. In addition to targeting big cities likeDallas and Miami, Kitchen United plans to enter second-tier markets as well,Sood said, and will experiment with areas even smaller than that.

Henoted that the company has been successful in a variety of environments, fromdense urban areas like Chicago to suburbs like Scottsdale, Ariz.

“It’sworking everywhere,” he said.

相关内容