Opinion – Nabil Bonduki: Are dark kitchens, here to stay, good for cities?

Among the changes caused by the pandemic that came to stay in cities, one of the most impacting was the explosion of delivery by app. Intimately linked to it, the so-called dark kitchens spread.

Dark kitchen, also known as ghost kitchen, is a commercial kitchen used exclusively for delivery operations.

The place is equipped with the necessary equipment to prepare meals, but it does not have a hall and reception for customer service, identification of the establishment of the facade of the property and does not allow you to see the way in which the food is prepared.

The origins of dark kitchens are controversial and likely emerged in multiple locations at the same time. According to the BBC, the proposal appeared in London around 2018. Others point out that dark kitchens emerged in India. What is certain is that they expanded with the popularization of food apps and became a fever in the pandemic.

In Brazil, something similar with other characteristics has existed for a long time. The most widespread, since always, were the pizzerias that only serve for pick-up or delivery. But they work with open doors, with brand identification and serving customers on site who, in general, can witness the preparation of pizzas.

Another Brazilian example is “China in the box”, created in 1994 and which has always only worked for delivery. But “China” is not a ghost: it adopts a design in its stores that leaves the kitchen visible and was the first establishment to put glass in the kitchen so that customers could observe the cleaning and preparation of food.

According to Abrasel, there are seven types of dark kitchen, including restaurants that, to avoid service overload at peak times, have created a second “ghost” kitchen in a nearby location to serve delivery.

But the biggest news, from an urban point of view, is the emergence of a new real estate branch: dark kitchen coworking. In this business model, which is rapidly expanding throughout Brazil, dozens of kitchens are concentrated in the same address, without branding, identification or transparency.

In a building located in easily accessible places, well located in relation to the profile of the clientele, dozens of small spaces, with about 20 m^two, are prepared to receive industrial kitchens. In a single building in São Paulo there are 22 kitchens!

“It’s a real estate activity,” said Gustavo Nogueira, Director of Operations at Smart Kitchen in an interview with Rede Globo. The entrepreneur delivers the space with water, sewage, gas, energy points and the external exhaust structure for those who want to set up a “ghost kitchen”.

“Whoever rents, sets up the kitchen. My client, who is going to open an establishment, needs to obtain the municipal operating license and the sanitary inspection license. These are the basic licenses he needs to operate.”

The activity is multiplying. One of the largest companies in the field opened its first building in 2018, with eight kitchens. Now it has 131, in four cities. It expects to reach 646 kitchens by 2025. Another company has six buildings in São Paulo, four in Rio de Janeiro, four in Belo Horizonte and one in Brasília.

Dark kitchens allow a significant cost reduction, compared to a “normal” restaurant. Without face-to-face service, rent, wages and labor charges with waiters, attendants and janitors decrease. The expenses with furniture, decoration and maintenance of the hall are eliminated.

Restaurants can spread across the city, with low investment, a franchising network of their brands, making them accessible to a broad consumer market. And the “cook”, outsourced, can work with different brands and types of products, in a flexibility that increases the profitability of the enterprise.

In a country of economic crisis, the opportunities opened up by this alternative are not negligible. From an economic point of view, the dark kitchen is very advantageous for the production chain that works with ready meals.

But the question that needs to be debated is whether the widespread diffusion of dark kitchens is good for urban life, for the environment, for the food security of the population and for gastronomy?

It is possible to identify numerous negative aspects, which need to be analyzed and faced:

1. The concentration of dozens of kitchens in a single location generates a great impact on the surroundings, with noise from the exhaust fans, smoke, odor and huge movement of bikers.

In São Paulo, this type of activity has been implemented in mixed areas, where residences coexist with commerce, with coworking spaces and restaurants being allowed. But the enormous concentration of industrial kitchens, an activity that did not exist a few years ago, is not regulated.

The public power needs to formulate specific legislation regulating where and under what conditions this activity can be allowed.

2. Although dark kitchens are an economic alternative for entrepreneurs in the sector, they can accelerate the closing of physical restaurants, which is harmful to urban life, particularly in metropolises such as São Paulo, which stands out for its gastronomy. During the pandemic, more than 25% of restaurants closed their doors, according to Abrasel.

Restaurants are spaces for meeting and sociability. Although private, they are part of urban life, which enriches a city. There will always be those who want to go to restaurants, but competition from dark kitchens, with lower costs, can contribute to closing restaurants and to the desertification of public space. This needs to be avoided.

3. The generalization of delivery by app, the Siamese brother of dark kitchens, has generated an exponential growth in disposable packaging, with serious environmental consequences and an increase in the cost of waste collection, which burdens municipal budgets.

It is necessary to institute reverse logistics for packaging used in delivery. The National Solid Waste Law determines that the generator must be the payer, that is, dark kitchens must pay for the collection of packaging generated by them. Or use standardized returnable packaging and logistics that allow for its reuse.

4. For a long time, there was a struggle for restaurants to allow visitors to their kitchens. In São Paulo, municipal law 11,617/1994 made it mandatory and similar legislation exists in several municipalities.

In dark kitchens, however, the customer doesn’t even know where the meals are prepared. Specific legislation needs to ensure more transparency in this type of establishment.

5. The relative low cost of delivery is obtained, among others, by exploiting the delivery person, who is poorly paid, without job guarantees and who risks his life on the streets to deliver food he cannot eat.

All these aspects need to be considered in specific legislation on dark kitchen and delivery by app that addresses the issue from all these points of view.