We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again to restaurateurs everywhere: we are now living in the age of online food delivery. There is no escaping it, there is no denying it. Are you ready?
In the digital and post-pandemic age, the surge in demand for food deliveries has kept the F&B industry afloat — and with anticipation of more to come. With the record-breaking number of US$461m invested into Southeast Asian F&B startups in 2021, countries all over the region are tapping into new technologies for a seat at the industry table.
Virtual Brands
Virtual brands have changed the food delivery industry, offering food on a delivery-only basis with no dine-in option. Only found in delivery apps or social media platforms, virtual brands provide restaurants the opportunity to maximize total earning potential through fully utilizing spare capacity in existing kitchens, thereby decreasing utility costs compared to places with dine-in.
Recently, exciting new partnerships have developed between kitchens and virtual brands (with celebrities too!) to offer even more delicious menu items. Restaurants can either develop their own virtual brands (though a costly and time-consuming endeavor on their own) — or use proven, tried-and-true virtual brands to easily earn extra revenue.
Its Benefits
Producing virtual brands that are pre-R&D’d and marketed for restaurants provide easy opportunities for kitchens to earn more without starting from scratch. It also allows for a diverse mix of cuisines and menu offerings to customers — especially the common target market customer who is tired of the usual options in delivery apps and adventurous enough to try something new. Cooks can get creative with what they have, while also getting to showcase cuisines their customers might be unfamiliar, yet interested in. Virtual celebrity brands are a great example of how kitchens need to do little to no marketing, while reaching new communities through fans.
JustKitchen, a Taiwan-based cloud kitchen company, operates in Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. They enter agreements with food concepts to license virtual brands across their cloud kitchen; e.g., they recently partnered with Virtual Dining Concepts (VDC) to license rights to the celebrity food brand MrBeast Burger across their covered countries. Any kitchen – whether belonging to a big restaurant group or a new mom-and-pop – can opt for virtual brands.
Its Demographic
For consumers who are homesick or simply can’t bother making time-consuming meals, virtual brands are the perfect solution to expand their palate. Not only do chefs get to share their cultural knowledge and recipes, customers can satiate their craving for dishes from home. Expected revenue for restaurants may also exponentially increase if they choose to take on a virtual celebrity brand like MrBeast’s! For fans who can’t fly all the way to the US or other countries to support their favorite creator in-person, restaurants can use virtual brands to connect fandoms (i.e., reach new customers!) through food.
Food trends may come and go, but people will always crave for a taste of home.
Interested in earning more through virtual brands?
Don’t just want it – klikit.
We’re not only an all-in-one software solution for food delivery management, but we also give you access to curated, in-house and celebrity virtual brands through klikit Market.
Try us out today!
