The advent of online food delivery has brought an upright trend in Cloud kitchens. Irrespective of the food type and restaurant category, there has been a rise in the number of cloud kitchens opening up in major cities of India. If you are interested in setting up a cloud kitchen, there is ample information available out there, starting from the licenses required, to the technology required for running this type of kitchen service. With its low cost investment, cloud kitchen has become one of the smartest ways of running a restaurant. But what exactly is a cloud kitchen? How do make your own cloud kitchen?
A cloud kitchen is a food preparation facility serving takeaway, delivery - only meals. A cloud kitchen or a ghost kitchen contain the commercial kitchen facilities for the preparation of restaurant or home meal but with no dine-in area, hence it can be set up in a smaller area as compared to a traditional restaurant. An average cloud kitchen can be set up in an area of 250-300 sq ft with the option of locating in a mid or low cost commercial area therefore drastically saving cost associated with operations and ease to do business.
Cloud kitchen is a low cost product as compared to a traditional restaurant but it can turn out to be an expensive & lengthy deal if not designed in the right manner or without the help of an expert. An expert here is not necessarily an architect, interior designer or a real estate construction consultant, it can be your chef but it has to be somebody who is aware of the kitchen equipment’s and understands the functioning of your kitchen. Especially for the first time entrepreneurs, a bad kitchen design can increase the indirect cost of everyday functioning because of an inefficient kitchen, bad services and increasing the food production time. With professional consultation & research you can eliminate the risk of going wrong and get a well designed and ventilated kitchen providing solutions for all space and functionality issues that may arise during the course of setting up the kitchen. Click here for a free consultation with our design partner
In this blog, we aim to provide all important information that you need to consider while designing a cloud kitchen, as well as practical tips and ideas for maximum utilization of the available cloud kitchen space and its functionality.
Firstly, here are different types of Cloud Kitchen options available to you
Hub and Spoke Model
In a hub and spoke model, food is prepared in a large centralized kitchen. The semi cooked or fully cooked food from the centralized kitchen is then delivered to smaller outlets located in and around a city/region. The small outlets further prepare and package the food which is delivered directly to consumers saving time and resources due to its scale and standard process.
Pod Kitchen
A pod kitchen is a standardized modular kitchen which is supplied as a complete unit with built in catering equipment's. The pod kitchen is easy to install and can be set up as a standalone unit or can be linked together with an already existing kitchen facility to form a part of a bigger facility. A standalone standard kitchen pod can be built in a small area of about 100 sq ft (9 ft x 12 ft) which is ideal for small food trucks, school, office canteen, or even a small in house catering business.
Commissary (Aggregator) Kitchen
Also termed as ‘kitchen as a service’ (KaaS), these kitchen are owned by a third party wherein many restaurant brands or individuals can use the kitchen space on sharing basis. From cooking equipment's to storage facilities, everything is shared. In simple terms, it is a co-working space for cloud kitchens, but instead of work stations, there are kitchen stations which people can rent.
What are the components of Cloud Kitchen?
While each restaurant brand will have their unique kitchen design style or layout, all cloud kitchen will have the following basic components:
Storage
Every cloud kitchen will store a variety of items including perishable and non perishable food, utensils, cold storage etc. Hence to accommodate the above requirements; every cloud kitchen should have separate storage units for each type of goods. Primarily, while designing the storage area, you need to separate the dry storage and wet storage. In larger facilities, pantry rooms for dry storage, walk in cold storage are provided separately.
Washing Station
A lot of cleaning is involved in cloud kitchen to ensure hygiene and safety of the food being prepared. A cloud kitchen usually has a different washing station for both food and dirty dishes. The washing station usually consists of commercial dishwasher, sinks and drying racks, among others.
Food Preparation Area
Cloud kitchens usually have multiple food preparation areas and each area is designed on the basis of menu. For example, an Indian dishes food preparation area is different than a western dishes food preparation area. However there are some basic requirements which remain same in all kind of areas- counter space, cutting tool and containers for storage. The food prep zone is usually placed near storage area for quick access to ingredients. These areas are further divided into raw foods processing, cutting areas and mixing areas.
Cooking station
The cooking station is the most important area of the kitchen where the dishes are finished and sent out for delivery. This area should be able to accommodate large equipment's like gas-range combinations, oven and commercial fryers. This area is further broken into smaller section like baking area, grilling area and frying station. To speed up the process, the cooking area is usually located near the front of the kitchen or next to the service area.
Service area
The service area in a cloud kitchen is used for packaging and sending out food for deliveries. This area is located on the front to take orders and dispatch deliveries.
What are the design considerations for a standard Cloud kitchen?
Each cloud kitchen interiors will be unique and specific to the requirements of the user and the product being sold. However, while preparing for the cloud kitchen interior design, you will have to consider the following points independent of the size, location and locality of the cloud kitchen:
Food Menu
Always analyze the food menu before starting out to build your cloud kitchen. A kitchen developed without considering the menu can turn out to be an expensive tragedy. The information from menu will help you in understanding your requirements for equipment's and better space planning
Kitchen flow
The right kitchen flow for a cloud kitchen should be:
Access to raw material > Precooking preparation > Food preparation > Packaging > Delivery
Kitchen should be designed keeping in mind the function, equipment's, storage, cleaning food prep etc. the design should skillfully make the work flow efficient and simple rather than making simple tasks tedious.
Ergonomics
Ergonomics is the science of designing of the space in order to optimize human well being and the overall performance of the system which in this case is a cloud kitchen. Taking care of ergonomics will help in area arrangement and provide appropriate dimensions to allow the staff to work efficiently.
Structural Dimensions
Few important dimensions while designing a cloud kitchen to be looked at are:
Height of the work station from the floor should be 900 mm
Height of a full height pantry unit is 2100 mm
Width of a commercial kitchen door is 1500 mm
Wall tiles to be installed up to 2000 mm from the floor
Local Health Codes
Make sure to study the local health codes before setting up your kitchen. The regulations vary from state to state and are crucial while designing a kitchen. Some codes also govern the measurements or area arrangements inside a kitchen. One should also review all kitchen licenses and permits involved in designing a cloud kitchen like FSSAI license, GST registration, fire license, municipal health trade license etc. For cities like Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon a lot of these licenses and registrations can be done online via Government portals.
Ventilation
Proper ventilation of the kitchen can be achieved by installing cooker hoods which can either be wall mounted or with activated carbon filters
Energy efficiency
While building a cloud kitchen from the scratch, the owner has the opportunity of investing in energy efficient equipment's and electrical. With heavy electricity consuming equipment's like cold storage, oven, deep freeze, ventilation hood etc. going energy efficient is not a choice but a necessity. There are various ways to achieve the same ranging from Smart lighting's, Smart equipment’s & Multi-Purpose Storage. In case of standalone kitchens, solar panels can be used to meet the energy demand.
Packaging Area
With delivery only meals, packaging area becomes an important part of the cloud kitchen. While restaurant have a service area, a cloud kitchen has a packaging area next to the cooking area where all the prepared hot meals are packed and sent out for delivery within minutes.
Services
Designing of the services like HVAC, electricity, gas supply, drainage, maintenance, lighting, ventilation etc should be taken into consideration while designing a cloud kitchen
Sanitary conditions
The cleaning area should be located away from the cooking area so as to maintain hygienic conditions. The location of toilet and bathrooms should be carefully designed to avoid kitchen area.
Safety
Fire fighting system should be installed in the kitchen with installation of sprinkler system in large areas and CO2 fire extinguishers.
Flooring
While constructing the cloud kitchen, the flooring material of a kitchen should always be washable, smooth and of impermeable material. The flooring can be done in tiles or epoxy flooring. The texture of the flooring should always be non-slippery. To avoid leakage, proper damp proof course should be applied.
Walls
Walls in a kitchen should be smooth, easy to clean and in light color. Tiles are preferred as it is easier to clean and remove stains. The tiles should be done up to 2000 mm from the floor to ceiling.
Pantry
In a larger space, the pantry can be located in an independent room. In smaller kitchen, a pantry unit from floor to ceiling can be installed with sufficient shelves ideal for containing non-perishable food items.
Important Equipment’s
Steel tables for food preparation and packaging
Burner ranges
Oven
Dishwasher
Sinks
Grill station
Fridge
Blast chilling
Deep-fryer
Stand-alone cooler or walk-in cooler
Freezer
Steam table
What should be the layout of your cloud kitchen?
Cloud kitchen layout should be focused on providing a functional and safe kitchen. The right kitchen layout can enable the kitchen staff to work efficiently and safely resulting into decreasing food production time and higher customer satisfaction. The kitchen space can be a long narrow room or a perfect square room. Figuring out the right layout for each space is important. The space should accommodate a layout and not the other way around.
Following points should be considered while designing your kitchen layout:
1) Create a process to execute each item present in the menu.
2) Develop an equipment list according to the menu type
3) Design the equipment layout for each work station.
4) Those stations which share menu components should be places next to each other
5) Visualize a dry run and identify problems that may arise later when the kitchen starts functioning.
Types of Cloud kitchen layout, Find out what you need?
Assembly line
Popular among fast food restaurants like Subway and Mc Donald’s, this type of layout facilitates the production of similar type of food dish over and over again. The assembly line layout has a central row that starts with food preparation and ends with a completed item ready to be served. The point of service is usually customer facing. The assembly line layout is ideal for fast food franchise with limited menu and similar food preparation method. It allows the customers to customize their meal in front of them.
Zone type
This type of layout is ideal for large operation areas hotel restaurant, event catering kitchen etc with diverse food menu and big staff. The idea behind this layout is to divide and lead. Instead of having one head chef operating the entire kitchen, this type of kitchen is a symphony of many specialist chefs creating diverse menu out of a single kitchen from start to finish. This type of layout requires large space and staff for the smooth functioning of the kitchen.
Island style
The island style kitchen layout starts with the ring layout, with a cooking station located at the center like an island. The storage units, food prep counters and cleaning area are located along the perimeter with cooking equipment's in the center. This type of layout is best for square type area with ample space so that there is enough space around the island for smooth movement. The kitchen chef can easily have staff communication and command easily with this kind of layout. It provides for smooth management of the kitchen.
Galley Layout
This layout is ideal for tight spaces like food trucks or small kitchens. In this layout, all the equipment's and work stations are places along the perimeter i.e. along the walls. The empty space in the center allows for easy movement of kitchen staff while making it easier to work at multiple stations. This layout is designed around the workflow to help cater to larger volume of customers in the least time possible.
That's All Folks!!
You can also reach out to our Interior Designs experts at Smade Solutions if you are looking to consult designing the makeover of your room. We are also available for onsite consultation in Delhi-NCR.