How the UAE’s cloud kitchens tackle quality and consistency issues

How the UAE’s cloud kitchens tackle quality and consistency issues

Cloud kitchens have been a lifeline for restaurants over the pandemic, offering operational continuity and ensuring cash flow. But the explosive growth accompanying new eating and ordering routines has also led to issues around quality and consistency in the face of evolving business conditions.

“During the COVID-19 lockdowns, cloud kitchens exploded 100-fold as a business entity for the F&B industry. Deliveries enabled us to survive during the pandemic,” said Spero Panagakis, co-founder of UAE-based restaurants BB Social Dining and Philotimos Meze & Grill and the retail brand Soule Soups.

Like many others around the world who were forced to close their doors to dine-in customers, the group expanded its delivery business, tying up with a cloud kitchen to help with food production.

Cloud kitchens are commercial food production facilities that focus on delivery or takeout. They typically have no dine-in customers.

Panagakis says that the cloud kitchen he works with, featuring top-class conditions and facilities, aligns with his restaurant brands’ own best-practice business principles. Deliveries account for 10% of his restaurants’ business.

Before the company got there, however, quality issues prompted them to change partners a couple of times. One well-known supplier, Panagakis notes, didn’t even appear to be taking adequate precautions to deal with