Ghost kitchen and Grub Hub/Door Dash??

[ChefMike09]

Good day everyone,

I'm in the works of starting a small scale (side business, im a full time chef) ghost kitchen out of a commissary kitchen and I have been doing my research and see alot of them use third party delivery services. My question is how are these ghost kitchens even remotely profitable? Door dash takes a whopping 20-30%!!!! I know of a few who just blast their menus on social media and people purchase from their site, but how are these businesses doing this with third party?

Thanks,

Chef Mike

 

[foodpump]

Doordash and skip the dishes will take 30 to even 35% of the bill, they are nothing more than leaches sucking a body dry, when that body is too weak or sick, they desert and find a new host.

Last night I was at a local pizza joint, while one or two tables were occupied 90% of his business was takeaway. Because most delivery systems like Doordash won't let you separate the delivery charge from the food, this pizza joint was offering a 30% discount for self pick up or dine in, no charge for taxi pick up, and " regular charge" which would be a 30% markup for delivery systems. He had one staff full time at the pick up window and another one on the phone/computer. Most of his customers " got it" pretty quick, and it looked like about a 3-1 ratio of self pick up to delivery systems last night.

 

[phaedrus]

I suppose a 'ghost kitchen' that does delivery themselves could make good money in the pandemic. I'm dubious if the trend will hold up once we get a few good vaccines and things begin to return to normal. Yeah, some of the talking heads are painting it as a permanent trend but people go out to see and be seen, for entertainment as much as for the food (maybe more). Nearly every element of the chef's art collapses when stuffed into a styrofoam box. Probably stuff like burgers, noodles and pizza will continue to be packaged and puttered around town but eventually real food will go back to being a dine-in deal.

 

[kuan]

You don't have front of house to pay. That alone is 15-20%,

 

[foodpump]

True, but f.o.h. usually generate the beverage sales....

 

[frankie007]

It's the same here in UK, I wanted to do some take away through available platforms( diliveroo, just eat & uber eats) but there was signing fee and then 30% - 35% commission. It didn't make financial sence for me to do it as I would get to keep only 5% of every item sold.

 

[foodpump]

oooh... signing fee? Thats a new one how much eas that? Whats next, penalty fee when this whole thing is over?

 

[frankie007]

£300 - £500 dependant on the company. It was for the tablet to get orders through they explained. I had one in the kitchen from the previous chef but it was locked and could not be used again which I found strange. My feeling about all these platforms is that they are too expensive another thing I found is that restaurants use them as the owners are thinking "chefs are there already they might as well do it". When I did agency work last time you would do busy lunch and busy dinner while still doing take away, there was no down time at all, not even a minute. I felt like a slave and I have been working as a chef for nearly 30 years and am used to hard work. I am so glad I work for myself and can just say [email protected]#k you to all the platforms and never use them. LEACHES
P.S. and another thing all of them pay after 90 days!