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SoCal’s ‘Virtual Kitchens’ Poised to Satisfy Online Hunger Pangs
Americans are increasingly turning off their gas ranges in kitchens and spending more time and money dining out, according to CBRE’s U.S. Food-in-Demand report. Prepared meal food delivery, primarily from restaurants, has grown by 40% in the past five years, reaching $18 billion in 2018.
Sales are expected to hit $25 billion by 2023, with two-thirds ordered online. Restaurants are looking for more efficient ways to satisfy online-sourced hunger and are turning to “Virtual Kitchens” or shared meal preparation space to meet delivery demand.
Three prominent virtual kitchens in SoCal, Colony in Santa Monica, Cloud Kitchens in Los Angeles and Kitchen United in West Covina, are capitalizing on prepared meal delivery expansion and much like last-mile warehouses. Each have located facilities to maximize customer order fulfillment reach.
CBRE’s Dan Hunker predicts, “As consumer eating habits shift toward prepared meals accessed via technology platforms, virtual kitchens will likely become more prevalent for both existing and new kitchen-only (or ‘headless’) delivery restaurants.”
Spaces within virtual kitchen facilities rented to restaurants are typically hundreds of square feet rather than thousands of square feet traditional restaurants occupy. They also offer a low-cost and efficient alternative. For landlords, virtual kitchens could act as another source of demand for smaller industrial properties and vacant restaurant space.
For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Kaiser
