Today, Deliveroo has unveiled its 1000th virtual restaurant brand, Jamie’s Pizzeria, which launched in Taipei on the company’s first day of operation. Jamie’s Pizzeria was developed with the team at Jamie’s Italian to provide locals with a range of hand stretched, sourdough pizzas.
Creating virtual restaurants allows existing restaurants to increase revenue and attract more customers by offering new or complementary cuisines from their current kitchen, but under new branding. Restaurants use existing kitchen staff and chefs but are able to save on food costs and cut wastage, a significant challenge in the restaurant industry.
This is one of Deliveroo’s most successful innovations in the restaurant sector and a growing part of its business. By mid-2019 the company is set to work with 2,000 virtual brands globally.
Launched in the UK in 2017, the country now plays host to over 400 virtual restaurant brands on the Deliveroo platform including Yoobi Sushi’s Lolo Poké and Noodle Inn’s Mr Miyagi Ramen & Bao.
Virtual restaurant brands on Deliveroo enable restaurants to expand their customer base without the need for investment in new supply streams or real estate. By utilising their existing kitchens and appliances along with their staff’s existing culinary expertise they can create new bespoke menus designed to appeal to a new customer base.
Virtual brands take the next step
Oowee Diner (food pictured) is a Bristol based dirty burger restaurant that trialled a vegan virtual brand in Deliveroo Editions, London. Following its success it has chosen to turn the virtual brand into a bricks and mortar restaurant back in Bristol. Deliveroo Editions has allowed many restaurant partners to create virtual brands alongside their “mother brands” thanks to their state of the art delivery only kitchens.
Caleb Merkl, VP of Special Projects at Deliveroo said “Virtual restaurant brands are just one example of how at Deliveroo we’re using technology to support our 50,000 restaurants globally. We’re committed to working with our partners to provide new concepts and innovations, helping to support them as the food delivery industry continues to grow”.
Deliveroo uses its rich data to identify local food trends and cuisine demand to partner with restaurants to create menus which will appeal to local audiences with pricing that will also be attractive to consumers. Additionally, Deliveroo uses in-house expertise to create branding and packaging optimised for the newly created dishes.
Recently the company developed a direct POS integration that enables restaurants to streamline their in-house delivery operations, saving partners significant costs related to the optimisation of their staff. In April 2017 Deliveroo officially launched Deliveroo Editions, super kitchens that house multiple delivery-only kitchens, providing restaurants with an expansion option that doesn’t require the high costs associated with launched a bricks and mortar site.