Pakistan enters the $1 trillion global cloud kitchen market amidst pandemic

Pakistan has entered the $1 trillion global cloud kitchen market during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As restaurant owners cope with lockdown restrictions and government SOPs to prevent the spread of the virus, the cloud kitchen market has grown in Pakistan. A cloud kitchen restaurant is one that operates as a ghost kitchen on a delivery-only model. It has a ghost kitchen that contains kitchen equipment and facilities but has no dining area for walk-in customers.

The global cloud kitchen market relies on online orders placed through a website or mobile app, or online food aggregators.

Abdus Samad Rashid, founder and CEO of Hotpod explains here that “Cloud kitchens help food brands discover themselves digitally. The coronavirus situation has also acted as a steroid to the idea which was already gaining popularity due to the mounting costs of restaurants.”

Hotpod is the first shared cloud kitchen in Pakistan. It is a Karachi-based kitchen which operates as a Service (KaaS) platform enabling restaurants and food owners to expand their network by accessing a managed kitchen infrastructure with minimum capital risk, zero hassle, time saving and excellence in customer service. Hotpod has launched its operations from 3 kitchens in Karachi and has plans to expand to more than 50 shared cloud kitchens in the country.

The potential of cloud market in Pakistan is roughly about Rs7.5 billion ($47 million) per year. "The major drivers behind the success of cloud kitchen business included high demand for online food delivery, rising real-estate costs, and coronavirus infections" says Adeel Hashmi, the Chief Growth Officer at Hotpod.

While Pakistan's food industry is estimated to be around Rs20 billion per year, the introduction of cloud kitchen can boost revenue for restaurant owners which were adversely affected by the pandemic.