CEO of Kitchen Hub
CanadianSME sat down with Adam Armeland, CEO of Kitchen Hub, earlier this year to talk about the disruption he has brought to the food industry through his “Ghost Kitchen” concept. He shares the innovative idea behind the concept of “Ghost Kitchen” and how it is revolutionizing the takeout industry in Canada by making it more convenient and streamlined. We also talked about some of Adam’s business models provided by Kitchen Hub for its restaurant partners and what his future plans are with the $10 million funding that he received. We also discussed how the global pandemic has severely affected North America’s takeout sector and how his company expanded rapidly during such a difficult time. Together, we explore Adam’s vision and how Kitchen Hub differentiates itself from other already existing “ghost kitchens” in Canada.
The Kitchen Hub storey began while I was on parental leave in 2018 — my way of ‘cooking’ for my family while I was also busy taking care of my daughter was picking up takeout from a local restaurant. During my many visits to our favourite local spot, I started to notice familiar faces all on the same mission. There was a steady flow of people just like me, along with delivery drivers, looking to pick up orders with nowhere to wait and no idea how long they would be doing so, especially as takeout felt like a secondary priority to dine-in.
It was on my regular takeout run that it hit me — Canadians are busy and looking for quality food provided quickly and conveniently, but also want a variety of choices to select from. While the take-out and delivery channel had been steadily growing over the last six or seven years through the implementation of third-party apps like UberEats, Skip the Dishes and DoorDash along with the rise of off-premise cooking concepts, the primary focus of most restaurants was the in-person dining experience. Take-out is rarely prioritized and, as a result, often not profitable. There needed to be a solution for both restaurants and consumers.
Enter, Kitchen Hub. We opened our doors in January 2020, co-founded by myself (Adam Armeland, a commercial lawyer specializing in corporate real estate); Mat Abramsky (a real estate investor and startup expert) and Oren Borovitch (restaurant strategy and operations expert).
How is “Kitchen Hub” going to transform the takeout industry in Canada?
Kitchen Hub is ushering in the next generation of takeout – we are reimagining the takeout experience by focusing on our four key pillars: the convenience of quick and easy takeout; consistent high-quality; a collection of curated offerings in both product selection and the channels they are available from; as well as care packaged into every order. Everything Kitchen Hub does prioritize the takeout experience — from the layout of our facilities to the custom-designed kitchen spaces and our proprietary technology (digital screen displaying order status across all third-party apps) and our owned channel KitchenHub.com, cloud data storage, backend analytics).
What are some of the various business models Kitchen Hub provides for its restaurant partners?
Kitchen Hub offers partnership opportunities at all levels from the grab-and-go visibility available to our consignment partners to fully-custom kitchens in a range of sizes for our restaurant partners.
The key difference between the business model that Kitchen Hub offers its restaurant partners and that of the existing standard of ‘ghost kitchens‘ is that our partners have their own kitchen on-premise, which is staffed by their teams. Kitchen Hub takes care of the front of house and operations so that the restaurants just focus on what they love – to cook! If you order Chef Nuit’s Pad Thai, it’s made in a PAI kitchen with PAI chefs. Our model allows the restaurant partners to pay 100% attention to delivery/take-out orders (as opposed to being split with dine-in), resulting in an extremely high-quality product.
Could you please tell us some of the major restaurants you’ve partnered with?
PAI Northern Thai Kitchen
Piano Piano
Gusto 101
Impact Kitchen
Victory Foods
Chubby’s Jamaican Kitchen
Cabano’s Comfort Food
Chatime …to name a few
Adam Armeland – Streamlining the Food Delivery and Takeout Sector Leveraging Innovative Technology Share on XWith the CAD $10 million funding that you received, what would you like to do? What are your future plans?
Since opening its doors in 2020, Kitchen Hub continues to grow exponentially. With the $10M in funding raised from top-tier investors, we will be opening four locations in 2022 with a total of 50 planned in the next five years. Over the past few years, consumers have learned how to ‘cook with their phones’, becoming accustomed to reaching for their phone to order their favourite dishes. Customers can browse through a wide selection of restaurants and quickly scan offerings from local restaurants at the touch of a screen.
By re-engineering the takeout model, we have been able to provide restaurants with a platform to successfully focus on takeout and provide an UNBELIEVABLE experience to customers at home. Our team will continue to focus on delivering hospitality at every stage of the takeout experience – from the moment the order to the delight and surprise they get when opening the package.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the takeout industry in North America?
The pandemic has made the takeout channel a key lifeline for restaurants while facing industry-wide shutdowns. Previously, takeout often felt like an afterthought, with dine-in being the primary focus.
Lockdown has illuminated this imbalance, but restaurants have subsequently discovered that the growth potential of the takeout channel is substantial, especially with such extensive support from third-party apps. Now, as restaurants navigate reopening once again, it can be quite challenging for staff to split their focus and excel at both dine-in and takeout simultaneously. By partnering with Kitchen Hub, restaurants are able to not only excel in both areas and expand with low overhead but also access new communities, building brand awareness and engaging a wider consumer base. Enjoying a quality meal at home has been, and forever will be, of the utmost importance. With the takeout channel continuing to evolve, providing exceptional takeout will continue to play a large role in the restaurant industry overall moving forward.
