DoorDash service opens ‘virtual’ restaurants to speed up deliveries

10/31/2017
DoorDash is helping restaurant partners to offer food delivery in new cities without opening a restaurant.

The company is opening delivery-only “DoorDash Kitchens” in its new commissary in Silicon Valley. The program enables restaurant partners to offer delivery services in areas where they may not operate a restaurant, according to the company’s blog.

Restaurants rent space in the 2,000-sq.-ft. commissary, which features four separate kitchens. The fee is based on a percentage of gross sales. DoorDash also exclusively delivers the orders, according to Reuters.

The first company to leverage the kitchens is Little Star, a company that offers Chicago-style deep dish and thin crust pizza through locations in San Francisco and the East Bay. About 20% of Little Star’s revenue comes from delivery and take-out orders, but on some nights that percentage can be as high as 70%.

The company is using the service to test its concept in a new city, without the overhead and upfront costs of opening an entire restaurant, DoorDash said in its blog.

In addition to being an alternative for brands looking save on labor and rent, DoorDash Kitchens also offers additional capacity to companies that are overloaded by demand for delivery or catering operations.

DoorDash is already planning to expand the concept to more cities next year, the company said.
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