Financing

How ghost kitchens and virtual brands could change the restaurant industry

A Deeper Dive: Former Red Robin CEO Denny Marie Post discusses how these mega trends could change restaurants for years to come.

Virtual brands and ghost kitchens have been hugely popular since the outset of the pandemic. But just how big will they be?

This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features Denny Marie Post, the former Red Robin CEO who is now an advisor to the virtual brand operator Nextbite, among other roles.

Perhaps no trend has taken off in the past year or two quite like the emergence of ghost kitchens and virtual brands. For context, a ghost kitchen, or dark kitchen, is generally a kitchen for delivery and takeout only and hosts one or more brands. A virtual brand is a brand that operates for delivery and takeout only and can be housed in existing restaurants or ghost kitchens or elsewhere.

Post was the CEO of Red Robin when it first began integrating Donatos Pizza as a virtual brand inside its restaurants. She brings insight into the virtual brand and ghost kitchen trends given her past work with ghost kitchen company Reef as well as Nextbite. She discusses how these trends promise to reshape the industry long after the pandemic is over.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify.

Also, we are now on Alexa. Simply go to this link here and be logged into your Amazon account; look for “A Deeper Dive podcast” to enable the skill. Once it’s enabled, all you need to do to listen is say, “Alexa, play A Deeper Dive.” You may also enable the daily short news podcast “RB Daily” by searching for the “RB Daily” podcast.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Wendy's, whose chairman is an activist, may be getting an activist

The Bottom Line: Activist investor Blackwells apparently plans to nominate “several directors” to the burger chain’s board, according to Reuters.

Financing

Yes, there is such a thing as too fast in the quick-service world

The Bottom Line: In a world of digital orders and drive-thrus, friendly service actually matters more than speed.

Financing

BK franchisee Carrols goes from tragedy to triumph

The big Burger King franchisee has overcome a pandemic, inflation, questions about its future and the death of multiple executives to become the industry’s best turnaround story of 2023.

Trending

More from our partners