The dark kitchen market - Italy (2023)

1.1 Definition and presentation

The market for "dark kitchens," also known as "ghost kitchens," concerns kitchens that are geared toward selling home-delivered meals. Unlike traditional restaurants, it is therefore impossible to order and consume the meal on the spot. Food is ordered via online applications such as Uber Eats, Deliveroo, etc., and the food is then delivered directly to the customer's doorstep. Brands of this type of kitchen are essentially virtual in the sense that they have kitchen locations, but are not accessible to customers. "Dark kitchens" offer a wide variety of cuisines, from sushi to burgers, from local specialties to foreign cuisines.

The global "dark kitchen" market is a very dynamic segment, which, in 2019, accounted for 5% of the commercial restaurant market. From a geographical point of view, the Chinese and Indian markets are the most mature, presenting 7,500 and 3,500 "dark kitchens" respectively.

The Italian "dark kitchen" market began to depopulate particularly during the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and is now a fast-growing phenomenon in the Italian restaurant scene. In fact, it is expected that, in the short term, the "dark kitchen" market will come to represent a significant portion of the ready-to-eat meals market and will absorb an increasing percentage of delivery services.

This market has disadvantages compared to the traditional catering model, mainly due to the customer's inability to evaluate the service and atmosphere (typical and fundamentally important elements in catering). In addition, players operating in this market are required to bear substantial costs for the partnerships they develop with delivery companies. Despite this, the market has excellent future prospects and sees efficient communication strategies as a focal point for its growth. In fact, social media is one of the most effective methods, in this area,to be able to communicate with customers: the creation of intriguing content and the use of influencer sponsorships are some of the factors that, nowadays, market players take into consideration the most in order to increase the visibility of their "dark kitchen."