Amidst pandemic, cloud kitchen concept grows

COVID-19 Food

A few eateries have switched to food delivery

Porbandar: The cloud kitchen concept, which refers to the homemade food delivery business, has seen rapid growth as a result of increased safety precautions by customers.

Mitali Hathi, owner of Hathi’z Chocolate Goodies, informed The Observer: “I started offering services in January 2020. Covid-19 proved out to be the best opportunity for my business. From a single YouTube video of muffins and frankie, my business grew rapidly, offering a wide variety of food items to people. By providing home-baked brownies, jar cakes, sponge cakes, etc., I managed to get 3-4 orders daily.”

Strong competition and safety concerns proved to be a challenge. “But due to better quality and precautions, my business grew through word-of-mouth marketing…” she added.

During the lockdown, with the closure of restaurants, cloud kitchens helped to fulfill customers’ food demands. 

Bhavika Odedara, a customer at Hathi’z Chocolate Goodies, said: “The restaurant industry came to a halt, but our food cravings didn’t. During such times, Hathi’z Chocolate Goodies proved to be a savior…. With the rise in cases, I was unable to trust dessert provided by bakeries and preferred home-made desserts due to their reasonable price, assured quality with safety precautions.”

Low prices offered by the competitors often prove as the growth barrier to entrepreneurs. 

Parin Parmar, owner of Palash Aliments, said: “Due to Covid-19, I was unable to act as per my plan to pursue an internship abroad. I started a homemade food delivery business. Lower prices offered by competitors seemed to be a challenge at an early stage. However, through workshops, I have managed to make people aware of food quality and authenticity which helped me to get more food orders.”

Cloud kitchens are widely preferred as they allow customers to customize their orders. 

Dipali Bokhiriya, a customer at Palash Aliments, shared: “Food quality and customization drive me towards ordering food from Palash Aliments.”

Jigar Morjaria, a home chef of Laadeliciaco, said: “Covid-19 gave a chance to turn my passion into a profession. The fear of people to visit restaurants helped my business to grow. Customers prefer cloud kitchens over restaurant food as a single chef is involved… and hence safety protocols are maintained easily.”

“Initially, I served a few of my friends, but later by word of mouth and through social media promotions, I started this as a profession.”

A few restaurant owners also decided to convert their businesses into cloud kitchens.

Vinod Ramchandani, owner, Vins Chinese, said: “Due to the lockdown, I was unable to operate dine-in services. This concept helped me to earn by providing food prepared from home. Earlier, my regular customers ordered through phone calls. But, gradually, I was able to get more orders.” This saved him from incurring losses.

nishita.a@iijnm.org

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