I went inside Growth Kitchen, a London shadow kitchen business that provides space for restaurant brands to prepare food and increase their delivery capacity without the expense of a full-service restaurant.
The exterior of the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, South London.
Grace Dean/Initiate
Source: Initiated
The Ghost Kitchen is located on an industrial estate in a residential part of London – not where you’d expect takeout orders to be placed. Because they don’t serve customers directly, shadow kitchens can be located away from main streets in areas with lower rents and less floor space.
The industrial area that houses Growth Kitchen’s Balham site.
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The exterior of the building is largely indescribable. I arrived at 2:30 p.m., just after the lunch rush, although there were a few bikes parked outside.
The exterior of the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, London.
Grace Dean/Initiate
Delivery drivers picking up orders enter through the front door, which has a list of all kitchen restaurant brands.
The exterior of the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, London.
Grace Dean/Initiate
Inside, drivers can sit while waiting for orders, as well as access to restrooms, phone chargers and a water cooler. Growth Kitchen told Insider that driver welfare is important to the company.
Delivery drivers sitting at the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, south London.
Grace Dean/Initiate
The building is structured around two main corridors…
The development of the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, South London.
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…with pickup windows for every brand. Looking inside, you can take a peek at their individual kitchen spaces.
A pick-up window for delivery drivers to pick up orders at the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, London.
Grace Dean/Initiate
Kitchen layouts vary. The company’s founders told Insider that the kitchens are tailored to each brand’s needs.
A pick-up window for delivery drivers to pick up orders at the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, south London.
Grace Dean/Initiate
While some other shadow facilities have brands that share kitchens and even staff, Growth Kitchen has one for each outlet with staff hired directly from the chains. Shared kitchen space “is not the future,” co-founder Máté Kun told Insider.
The fit-out of one of the kitchens at the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, South London.
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Brands want to control their reputation and reduce risk by having their own kitchens and staff, said co-founder Tom Gatz. Because the kitchens are brand-specific, having multiple employees working in one facility would ruin flow, he said.
A pick-up window for delivery drivers to pick up orders at the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, London.
Grace Dean/Initiate
By operating shadow kitchens, staff can focus on order quality and speed without worrying about customer service, Gatz and Kun said. The company claims that installing a kitchen in one of its centers is much cheaper and faster than a traditional restaurant.
A pick-up window for delivery drivers to pick up orders at the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, London.
Grace Dean/Initiate
In total, there are 10 brands in the Growth Kitchen hub I visited, which Gatz and Kun say collectively fill at least 800 orders a day.
A pick-up window for delivery drivers to pick up orders at the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, London.
Grace Dean/Initiate
Gatz and Kun said there were criteria brands had to meet before securing space in the kitchen, such as having a five-star food safety rating and a commitment to sustainability, including packaging from of recycled materials.
A sign showing a five star food hygiene rating at the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, south London.
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The brands are all distinct, serving cuisines ranging from Greek and Thai to Mexican and pizza. Growth Kitchen says that means they don’t directly compete with each other.
Various brands are manufactured at the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, London.
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Brands can prepare orders for all delivery apps on the site, the top three being Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat, but Kun said Growth Kitchen encourages restaurants to use proprietary delivery channels instead to capture customer data.
The exterior of the Growth Kitchen site in Balham, London.
Grace Dean/Initiate
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