The dark kitchen market in France

The market for "ghost kitchens " - more commonly known as "dark kitchens", but also "ghost kitchens" or " virtual kitchens"- is essentially focused on the sale of home-delivered dishes. unlike traditional restaurants, it is impossible to order and eat your meal on site. Orders are placed via online applications such as Uber Eats, Deliveroo and others. The brands of this type of kitchen are essentially virtual in that they own kitchen premises, but these are impossible to access. Dark kitchens offer everything from sushi and burgers to French specialties and foreign cuisines.

The global market for ghost kitchens is a very dynamic segment of the catering market. Some dark kitchens markets are more mature than others, such as the Chinese and Indian markets, where there are 7,500 Chinese dark kitchens and 3,500 Indian dark kitchens worldwide.

The number of dark-kitchen players continues to grow year after year, to the point where some experts believe the market will soon be saturated. In France alone, there are already over 1,500 dark kitchens on the Uber Eats app and over 500 on the Deliveroo app. That's why more and more dark kitchens are turning to the franchise business model. These companies support new players who want to enter the home-delivered food business.

The French market for dark kitchens is still growing. This market dynamic has obviously been boosted by the health crisis, since in 2020 it was almost impossible for us to go out to eat. Market experts say that the health crisis saved the market three years. Fund-raising to support the development of these new ghost kitchens is becoming increasingly recurrent, as in the case of Not So Dark, which raised 80 million euros in 2022 to develop its dark kitchens before changing its business model to franchising and dark kitchens consulting and support.

Nevertheless, 2023 will see the start of new regulations for dark kitchens , putting an end to the market's legal limbo.