Skip to content
Home » how to Start a Dark Kitchen in UK

how to Start a Dark Kitchen in UK

how to Start a Dark Kitchen in UK

Dark Kitchen serves mostly in North London, UK. Dark kitchen is a popular trend, where the room has been designed to create stark contrast between the light and dark colors, thus creating a visually engaging effect.

It can really help you to make modish and stylish view that provides welcoming look, which is often forgotten in modern designs. When it comes to kitchen design, light colors are still popping up in kitchens. Light colors make the room a cheerful and spacious. But how about having a darker shade? Dark colors are always popular, especially if you have a small kitchen.

Determine which type of dark kitchen is most appropriate for your business

Dark kitchens come in various formats, including hubs, ghost kitchens and cloud kitchens. A hub, also known as a ‘dark kitchen village’, is a collection of multiple brands under one roof. Cloud kitchens are individual restaurants operating out of shared commercial cooking space.

These two types of dark kitchen offer massive advantages over traditional restaurant setups. They allow you to launch a takeaway or delivery-only brand at a much lower cost, while still offering the same quality product you would if you were operating in your own restaurant space.

The UK is a competitive and saturated food market, with high levels of competition and a wide range of food cuisines. It is difficult to stand out. Setting up a dark kitchen can help you grow your business and increase revenues, but it can be tricky to get right. Starting a dark kitchen can be complicated. You’ll need to think about location, the type of cuisine you want to offer, which delivery partners you want to work with, and many other factors.

Find the right space for your business

Determining the right location for your dark kitchen is an important first step. You’ll need a central location that’s easy to reach and has minimal travel time to your delivery area.The ideal dark kitchen space will be away from residential areas, so you don’t disturb neighbors and receive complaints about noise, traffic or smell.

The industrial parks and warehouses that are common in cities are perfect for this reason, as long as they’re accessible enough for your delivery drivers to get to and from quickly.

If you already have a restaurant that operates for dining, you may want to consider whether it would be possible to operate a dark kitchen from the same space. In some cases, this might work if you’re able to split up your staff or offer separate hours for each service.

However, it can be difficult to operate two different types of business from the same location at once, so it might be better to look elsewhere when starting a dark kitchen in UK.

Make sure the space has the right utilities

You’ll need to ensure the space you rent has all the utilities you’ll need for your dark kitchen. In order to cook and prepare food, your kitchen must be equipped with:

  • A clean water supplies
  • A working drainage system
  • Restaurant-grade plumbing and electrical outlets
  • At least one hand sink with hot and cold running water
  • If you’re planning on using equipment that creates heat or smoke, you’ll also need an extraction system.
  • Once you have the right space, you can start thinking about the equipment you’ll need to install.

Consider staff members

The employees that you choose to hire are going to be one of the most important factors determining your success. It is extremely important to hire individuals who are capable of taking on multiple roles, since your kitchen is going to be smaller than a full-service restaurant. Additionally, make sure that anyone that you hire is fully trained in the area where they will be working and has enough experience to handle your dark kitchen’s demands.

Choose a delivery option that works for you

What you will need to start a dark kitchen:

  • Choose a delivery option that works for you

You’ll have the option to run your own delivery team, contract one of the many third-party delivery companies available or do both!

  • Kitchen space

You will be able to choose between a shared kitchen or your own private space.

  • Kitchen equipment

This can vary based on the size of your kitchen and what you decide to cook but there will always be basic equipment you’ll need in order to function.

  • Staffing

You’ll need chefs who are familiar with cooking for delivery, runners who can deliver the food or drivers who’ll handle any third-party deliveries. You may also want a manager for your kitchen so that everything goes smoothly.

Starting a dark kitchen can be an excellent way to further expand your business and reach more consumers without having to renovate an existing restaurant or opening a new one

Starting a dark kitchen is the perfect way for any business to expand quite quickly. However, it does require some involvement from the existing ones. If you are an established business with a number of outlets in different areas, then this could be the way forward for your company. It should be noted that it might also mean that your existing customers will miss you when they are out and about but this should not put you off starting a dark kitchen.

The main advantage of a dark kitchen is that it can be used for both breakfast and dinner. This extra income stream will allow you to make more money with no extra hassle. If your diner is only open for breakfast, adding a dark kitchen to your business will ensure that you reach more people without having to expand into dinner service. By choosing otherwise, you’ll need to open up another diner for dinner and have two separate businesses, which can cost more than opening a dark kitchen.