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BUSINESS REPORT

web and app channels without relying on
Cooking up a storm food delivery apps.”
Different from GrabKitchen and not just a
third party connecting restaurants and cus-
tomers, TASTY Kitchen brings more advan-
One of the few industries to get a boost from the pandemic, cloud kitchens tages since it operates its own kitchens, strictly
are thriving in Vietnam but must consider customer behavior.
manages inputs, and has a professional kitchen
T KHANH CHI REPORTS team. “We are currently deploying three
kitchens of 100 to 1,000 sq m for sales and
product research,” said Mr. Nguyen Thanh
Phong, Director of TASTY Kitchen. “We will
he advancement of technology has expanding across Southeast Asia, and Gojek continue to expand our network to meet
brought about many changes to the in Indonesia and the Central Restaurants increasing demand from customers in Ho Chi
T food service industry, especially the Group in Thailand, Vietnam’s cloud kitchen Minh City and elsewhere. We want to reshape
behavior and habits of consumers. One of landscape is relatively nascent but has much the door-to-door food market in Vietnam by
the most prominent breakthroughs is the potential for growth,” she said. providing high-end services. Significant invest-
cloud kitchen model, also known as shared As the leading food delivery and ride- ments have been made in engaging professional
kitchens, virtual kitchens, or ghost kitchens. hailing platform in Vietnam and Southeast chefs and rigorously selecting fresh natural
Amid the blues courtesy of the Covid-19 pan- Asia, Grab launched its first cloud kitchen in ingredients from leading suppliers.”
demic, cloud kitchens have proven to hold the country in September 2019. It’s network
advantages and are finding increasing favor now includes four GrabKitchens in Thu Duc, Prominent advantages
among restaurants and local customers alike. Binh Thanh, Binh Chanh, and Tan Binh dis- Despite becoming a popular new model
Following the appearance of GrabKitchen in tricts in Ho Chi Minh City. Since its launch, over recent years and growing in the region,
2019, other players felt it worthwhile to jump GrabKitchen has addressed consumers’ dining the cloud kitchen model really caught the
into the game. But it remains very much a demand while creating additional revenue eye of investors in Vietnam when Covid-19
new concept in Vietnam and is still to see streams through accessing a new consumer struck, according to Mr. Duong Nguyen, CEO
widespread adoption. base within the Grab ecosystem. of Dcorp R-Keeper Vietnam, a multinational
Chef Station was officially put into opera- company in F&B management technology.
New idea tion last October and also has four kitchens The model will continue growing and find
The growth of cloud kitchens has been in Ho Chi Minh City, mostly selling via third its balance, but will not completely replace
commensurate with the increasing popularity party food delivery apps and posting solid traditional restaurants because the F&B indus-
of food delivery, as both are booming around revenue. “Chef Station is a hybrid model try caters to many different customer require-
the world and in Asia and likely to change between kitchen rental and self-building ments. Cloud kitchens and food delivery were
the entire food and beverage (F&B) industry. kitchen and stems from market demand,” born to meet changing consumer habits as
Though not necessarily “new” in Southeast Mr. Mai Truong Giang, CEO of TG Food, the lives become busier.
Asia, cloud kitchens have become more wide- owner of Chef Station, told VET. “It was born Covid-19 accelerated the transition from
spread as a direct result of Covid-19, with from the ambition of creating a revolution in traditional dine-in restaurants to delivery
food delivery becoming the go-to dining online restaurants that would create kitchens and cloud kitchens in Vietnam, enabling busi-
option during lockdown, according to Ms. with better quality dishes and guaranteed nesses to diversify their portfolio and stay
Deepika Chandrasekar, Senior Research Ana- food safety. It helps customers who care about afloat. Ms. Chandrasekar from Euromonitor
lyst at Euromonitor International. “While quality become loyal to Chef Station kitchens said the concept has been especially well-
Grab’s ghost kitchens have been aggressively and place orders through our social media or received in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, as

30 | VIETNAM ECONOMIC TIMES | APRIL 2021