ChefReady to Open First Rentable Ghost Kitchen of its Kind

ARTICLE BY BAR BUSINESS MAGAZINE

ChefReady will open the first “virtual” kitchen of its kind in the Platt Park neighborhood of Denver this summer, offering ten rentable, high-tech commercial kitchen stations under one roof for delivery-only concepts. ChefReady will provide solutions to problems that
have plagued the restaurant industry for years, by offering lower rent, lower overhead and reduced equipment costs, personalized customer service, and more efficient and affordable labor services to its restaurateur partners, something that is urgently needed during these times.

Even before COVID-19, the food delivery industry was expected to grow from $43 billion in 2017 to $467 billion in 2025, according to Morgan Stanley. The recent pandemic has seen unprecedented restaurant delivery sales, creating new habits that will likely continue. ChefReady offers a way for restaurants to maximize their delivery footprint. This delivery-only style of kitchen also decreases risk to restaurants during financial crises. Following COVID-19, many restaurants won’t be able to open or reopen as brick-and-mortar restaurants or be unable to succeed at limited occupancy. Virtual kitchens can provide an affordable, stable avenue for restaurants to (re)establish themselves.

ChefReady is the brainchild of Nili Malach Poynter and her husband Robert Poynter, founders and owners of Vinyl Interactive, a performance-based data science and marketing firm that has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. Nili grew up in Denver with her brother Steven Malach, who is ChefReady’s Director of Sales.

“For years, Robert and I watched restaurant-owner friends close their brick-and-mortar restaurants, due to declining profit margins and rising rent, so we were excited to hear about the ghost kitchen concept,“ said Nili. “But while looking into those further, we
realized that many operate with a “churn and burn” mentality, resulting in an unprofitably high tenant turnover. We decided to create a company that offers the convenience of a ghost kitchen, but with more of a ‘mom and pop’ personalized level of customer service, as well as greater efficiency, and a ‘greener’ footprint.”