Sponsored by Hoshizaki
It’s clear why ghost kitchens are attracting so much attention from restaurant chains, entrepreneurs and investors. Designed exclusively for preparing off-premises food, they promise to be the most productive means of serving the demand for fast, convenient meals at home that spiked during the pandemic and remains strong today.
Freed of the complexities and rising costs of running conventional restaurants with dining room service, operators of these low-overhead, high-volume facilities cater to the legions of consumers who got hooked on safe, touchless delivery ordered with a digital device rather than face to face.
And if eye-popping predictions are remotely accurate, this amounts to a historic opportunity. Wunderman Thompson Intelligence reports that the market research company Euromonitor “estimates that ghost kitchens could be a $1 trillion business by 2030.”
Setting up a ghost kitchen
Offering no dining room service, ghost kitchen operators do without the tables, chairs, host stands and typical front-of-the-house design elements of a conventional restaurant. All the square footage is usable workspace for fast, efficient food production.
Operators who get a space by signing on with a ghost kitchen brand will have certain existing fixtures as a starting point for kitchen setup. “Our kitchens come fit with basic equipment, like a commercial kitchen hood and three-compartment sink,” says “The Ultimate Guide to Ghost Kitchens,” a blog post on the site of CloudKitchens, a ghost kitchen company. “That way, you can customize the rest of your equipment to fit your needs.”
Space efficiency and flexibility
Ghost kitchens often fit into areas with tight dimensions. Thus having cooking and refrigeration equipment with small footprints is essential. An example of a piece that maximizes floor space is a refrigerator-freezer combo unit in a single upright cabinet, much more space efficient than installing two freestanding units.
Installing a combi oven is an effective way to use space efficiently as well as boost the versatility and productivity of a ghost kitchen. It combines three cooking modes—convection, steam and a combination of the two—in one compact unit, replacing a standalone convection oven and steamer.
Durability and performance
Choosing durable, high-performing equipment is essential for a productive ghost kitchen. For example, the refrigerators of the Steelheart line by Hoshizaki America feature stainless-steel construction inside and out. The sturdiness and corrosion-resistance of stainless steel enables them to withstand years of rugged kitchen duty.
Also noteworthy is the superior cooling performance of Steelheart refrigerators. They maintain even, NSF-7 temperatures for safe, reliable food storage. This is the result of a unique ducted air-distribution system that envelopes food pans throughout the cabinet in cold air. What’s more, Steelheart reach-ins have rapid temperature recovery thanks to a thermostatic expansion valve that delivers refrigerant at times of peak demand.
Utilities matter
Upgrading kitchen equipment may result in significant savings in utility costs, according to “The Ultimate E&S Trend Recap for 2021” by the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM). “Manufacturers are developing ever-more efficient gas broilers, which not only save in energy during operation, but also create less radiant heat and contribute to A/C savings,” the recap says.
When it comes to utilities, ghost-kitchen operators are advised to carefully consider the energy source for their equipment. “Electric is the future,” declares a report by Black Box Intelligence entitled “The Emergence of Ghost Kitchens & Their Rising Impact.” It notes a trend in some localities of banning gas-fueled commercial cooking equipment and requiring electric-powered units to reduce the greenhouse gases the former produce. “You will want to select equipment that is scalable and works across all jurisdictions,” the report says.
Working smarter
The emergence of smart, connected kitchen equipment promises to be a major advantage for operators of ghost and conventional kitchens alike. Good examples are smart ice machines and reach-in refrigerators connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) network that reduce operating costs and raise productivity and efficiency.
Hoshizaki has teamed up with the Fastcomm technology group on a remote monitoring solution for Hoshizaki ice machines with real-time monitoring and diagnostic capabilities. It uses cellular connectivity to link ice machines and refrigeration to a secure cloud-based platform that allows operators to check unit performance and receive status alerts. The technology informs them of the status of their machines at each location and diagnoses problems when they arise for increased efficiency and reduced downtime.
For more information about the role Hoshizaki refrigerators and ice machines can play in efficient and productive kitchen operations, visit www.hoshizakiamerica.com
