IWA 40:2022—Virtual Kitchen Services
Culinary preferences are evolving as society becomes defined by digital convenience. The concept of virtual kitchens is emerging as an answer to these preferences. IWA 40:2022— Guidelines For Virtual Kitchen Services applies to virtual kitchen services.
What Is a Virtual Kitchen?
A virtual kitchen is a delivery-only concept, which enables restaurants to launch a restaurant using their existing kitchen and staff. Virtual kitchens can operate out of an existing restaurant’s kitchen or a shared, isolated commissary space—a ghost kitchen. They use third-party delivery services to receive orders and deliver food to customers. Customers can order through the restaurant’s website, app, or phone, or through a third-party delivery app.
What Is IWA 40?
IWA 40:2022 provides guidelines on principles, processes, and practices relevant to meeting the safety and quality standards required of virtual kitchen services. This document applies to virtual kitchen operators and is intended to serve as a reference for other stakeholders, such as virtual restaurants.
In the context of intensive catering operations, IWA 40:2022 provides guidance on how to formulate operational standards on aspects such as sharing, transparency, equipment, and the facilities assembly line. This International Workshop Agreement aims to help resolve issues related supervision in virtual kitchen businesses. IWA 40:2022 is based on good practices used in the catering industry worldwide.
The Development of the Virtual Kitchen
Because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the start of 2020, restaurants and food and beverage (F&B) outlets in many parts of the world were forced to shut down. As such, restaurants and F&B outlets could not offer dine-in services, so numerous catering enterprises evolved to participate in online catering services. IWA 40:2022 notes that it was during this time that concepts such as “contactless delivery,” “employees sharing,” “shared kitchen,” and “virtual kitchen” appeared.
The virtual kitchen business model developed to be an efficient platform for traditional catering restaurants to recuperate business and further integrate into online operation more quickly and at lower cost. In fact, the revenue in the Online Food Delivery market is forecasted to reach US$1.20tn in 2024 and is expected to exhibit a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2029) of 9.04%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$1.85tn by 2029. Hence, there has been an increased demand for online ordering and virtual kitchen can capitalize on this consumer desired service.
What Are the Advantages of Virtual Restaurants?
The advantages of virtual restaurants over traditional restaurants include that they can help boost sales and reach new customers without increasing operational costs. Additionally, virtual kitchens can streamline operations by taking orders quickly and tracking inventory. This can help reduce wait times and ensure there are enough ingredients to fulfill orders. Other benefits of a virtual kitchen include the following:
- Menu flexibility—quickly change or modify the menu depending on customer feedback and revenue generated
Lower risk— with reduced overhead costs and lack of sit-in dining, you reduce the inherent risks that come with opening a restaurant - Expand delivery range—can tests a new market while expanding the customer base to new locations
IWA 40:2022— Guidelines For Virtual Kitchen Services is available on the ANSI Webstore.
