QSR and Cloud Kitchen

A Quick-service restaurant (QSR) is focused on providing customers with food as quickly and efficiently as possible. It is an industry term for fast-food restaurants. Preparation methodology and usage of technology are the main pillars of a QSR. Most food is ordered for takeaway and table seating is rare or minimal.

QSR has a limited menu but combines their food items on the menu into a bundle of complimentary meals for example McDonald’s value meal of fries, a soft drink and a burger. Usually, customers prefer these meals over individual food items as the former creates a sense of value addition and diversity to their expenditure.

The traditional view of QSRs serving unhealthy food like fries, fried chicken and burgers is changing. Most chains are adapting to a market that is more conscious about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This can be seen in the growth of healthier options such as Subway and the way companies like Mcdonald's have adapted their menu by providing salads and Deli wraps alongside the traditional burger and fries.

Advantages:

· Less Staff

· Seamless and one-touch ordering

· Saves time

Disadvantages:

· Limited Menu

· Minimum table service

Examples: McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut and Domino’s Pizza are some of the known examples of QSR establishments. These operate using a franchise model which allows chains to expand rapidly over large areas with the cost of setting up each restaurant shared between franchisee and franchisor.

A Cloud kitchen is a commercial kitchen space to prepare food specifically for delivery or take-away. It is also referred to as a “Ghost kitchen” or “Virtual kitchen” or “Dark kitchen”.

They are fully equipped kitchens that don’t have a dine-in facility. But the challenges are online-only visibility, the challenge of brand building and lack of one-to-one interaction. Due to the easy experimentation, low investment, ability to manage multiple brands under a single roof, and space consumption, the Cloud kitchen concept is an upcoming trend in the food industry.

With the rapid growth of the online food ordering sector, many restaurants have grasped this concept of Cloud Kitchen and collaborated with food aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato to increase their overall profit.

Advantages:

· Low Financial Investment

· Scope for experimentation

· Low operational costs

· More efficient

Disadvantages:

· Only online visibility

· Difficult to build brand

· Limited customer interaction

· Dependence on food aggregators

Examples: Faasos, HolaChef, FreshMenu, and RedBox, are some of the famous Indian cloud kitchens. Rebel Foods is a cloud kitchen brand that manages multi-brand cloud kitchens like Faasos, Behrouz Biriyani, Oven Story, etc.