Like any industry, the culinary world also has shifts when the environment changes.
The Covid-19 pandemic has allowed the concept of ghost kitchens to thrive. You’re probably wondering what that is. Well, a ghost kitchen is a restaurant that sells food exclusively or predominantly through digital channels, via apps and directly online etc.
Ghost kitchens are not actual physical restaurants, you can’t have a sit-down dinner there or pick up your order at the counter.
Another term South Africans will be hearing a lot of are virtual or dark kitchens. This concept is similar to a ghost kitchen, however, these two often form part of an existing restaurant.
0 of 3
They offer patrons takeaway options that might differ from the concept of the main restaurant, though they come from the same kitchen, for example your favourite chicken wings place could have a virtual kitchen that offers pizza under a different name.
The pandemic has seen a rise in entrepreneurs peddling this concept in the country and others have decided to go all in. Culinary professionals like Zimbabwean-born Onismas Shonhiwa started his own ghost kitchen, Local Gourmet Eats, at his home in the suburb of Northcliff, Johannesburg, in May this year.
Before you raise the alarm, the kitchen has to be certified by health inspectors, so not any old kitchen will do. Shonhiwa’s kitchen is certified and he can be found on food delivery apps such as Uber Eats, Order in and Mr Delivery.
“I owned food trucks and after last year’s lockdown I was just chilling at home and then I decided, you know what, I have a huge space in my yard, so why can’t I convert that into a kitchen? So we did that, we got certified, we got health inspectors to come and check it out and we started our dark kitchen here in Northcliff, That’s Local Gourmet Eats.”
The 32-year-old holds a diploma in culinary theory alongside a business management qualification from Oxbridge Academy in Stellenbosch. He worked as a host for five years at a Canadian restaurant and worked as the general manager of local burger joint Hudsons.
Shonhiwa prides himself on offering gourmet dishes that are made from scratch and priced fairly. He says that he was introduced to the ghost kitchen concept through studying trends, and he saw that it was quite popular in London and Tokyo.
“A restaurant takes a lot of effort, it takes a lot of money but with a [ghost] kitchen, we give you restaurant quality but it’s just that you don’t come to the place, you shouldn’t even know where it is. So some people can even have five or six concepts coming from one kitchen, that’s how it was started… but for us we’re only doing one concept.”
Marketing to new customers is tricky because they don’t know you exist, I found the business on a food delivery app because they were offering a buy one, get one free special.
“For now it’s mostly word of mouth and we try to use the app platforms hence we do specials, because even on [the apps] if no-one knows you and you do specials you’ll pop up for everybody, that’s why we do those buy one, get one free specials, so that we are on top of the list.
“Besides that we’re on Facebook and now I am creating an Instagram [account] so that we can get cool content, spread the word and do sponsored ads etc. then people will get to know about us.”
Shonhiwa says the fledgling business is breaking even, and he aims to start up more branches, starting with a location in Midrand.
“With the experience that I have from the hospitality game, the way I cost my products, I cost it properly and yeah we are not [making] a lot of profit but we are breaking even…volumes [matter] in this game…which is why many people do a lot of dark kitchens in one place but that is not my vibe, I just want to deal with one and look for another spot, and that’s how you make money.”
This new business surely works for the business owner but what about restaurant staff, like waitrons? How do they fit into the picture?
Shonhiwas has three employees, they used to handle food delivery app orders at the restaurant he managed but were let go due to downsizing because of the pandemic.
One of the staff prepares the ingredients needed for the dishes, ie. hand-cuts potatoes to make fries etc, then the other person cooks and the third person handles orders and liaises with the delivery drivers. Shonhiwa oversees everything, and also does the regular admin associated with running a business.
“It’s a lot of work, you need someone who is highly trained in the kitchen and also in dealing with clients.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.