Kroger-owned Ralphs announced on Friday the opening of a new kitchen center, offering foodservice menus from a variety of formats, inside its Westwood store in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles location is the first collaboration between Kroger and Kitchen United, which describes itself as "the future of takeout & delivery," and the nation's first “Multi-Restaurant Ordering” to-go experience.
Additional locations in Texas are anticipated to open later in the month. The Dallas Morning News reports that these sites include locations in Dallas, Frisco, Plano and Houston.
Here's how the companies describe the concept:
"The kitchen center will enable customers to place an order digitally using Kitchen United's proprietary MIX platform via web, mobile, or an in-person ordering kiosk. Customers can then pick up their meal onsite or have it delivered. Restaurant staff will prepare the orders and delivery service fees will be determined by third-party providers."
Dan De La Rosa, Group Vice President of Fresh Merchandising for Kroger, describes the concept as "one more innovative example of how Kroger is fulfilling its commitment to anything, anywhere, anytime."
Dan De La Rosa, Group Vice President of Fresh Merchandising for Kroger. "The Kitchen United collaboration provides the fresh, on-demand meals our customers crave. It is one more innovative example of how Kroger is fulfilling its commitment to anything, anywhere, anytime."
Kitchen United's Chief Business Officer Atul Sood tells the Los Angeles Business Journal that "the industry term that we have fallen into is ghost kitchen, but this is very much not ghostly. It’s front and center, visible in the store, and we’re very proud of the design and architecture that’s gone into it. We even have a conveyor belt where customers can see their food after its prepared and packaged make its way to the front-of-house pickup center."
- KC's View:
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One of the smartest things about this concept is the location - it is virtually across the street from UCLA. One can imagine that if the food quality is good and the operations are efficient, this will end up being a kind of de facto cafeteria for folks over there.
Here's the question I would ask - does this collaboration give Kroger the ability to open ghost kitchen operations even in places where it does not have physical stores? Seems to me that it does; the company already is making moves in this direction by creating an e-grocery business in Florida, serving markets where it has no physical presence.
All of which points to new business models available to retailers, as they mix and match formats and concepts, with the ability to defy retailing orthodoxy when and where it seems to makes sense.
P.S. I love that Kroger seems to be putting food at the center of this value proposition.
