PepsiCo Unlocks Growth Opportunities With Ghost Kitchen Capability
PURCHASE, N.Y. — PepsiCo is rolling out a new ghost kitchen capability designed to enable existing and future PepsiCo Foodservice customers to seamlessly enter the bourgeoning ghost kitchen space and leverage the company's innovative resources and portfolio of brands to optimize off-premise performance.
Under this new umbrella, PepsiCo seeks to help unlock growth opportunities for its foodservice partners and harness learnings from the success of its delivery-only Pep's Place to introduce additional ghost kitchen menus centered around fan-favorite PepsiCo brands.
The "fast beverage" Pep's Place ghost kitchen paired Pepsi varieties with a flavorful menu of burgers, buffalo wings, sandwiches, salads and more. After partnering with Famous Dave's barbecue restaurant brand in 2021, more than three million guests entered its virtual doors in just one month of operations.
Ghost kitchens are part of a strategic expansion for the PepsiCo Foodservice Digital Lab. Launched in 2019, the lab is a consultancy that melds digital and technology partners with proprietary in-house innovation to provide resources and solutions for PepsiCo Foodservice customers. Its suite of capabilities connects customers with companies, services and insights and suit their specific digital and online needs.
The PepsiCo Foodservice Digital Lab seeks to aid the growing off-premise needs of restaurant operators and empower them to capture the 54 percent of adults who view food takeout or delivery as essential to the way they live, the company said.
"Ghost kitchens offer foodservice operators an efficient, proven, and cost-effective way to improve kitchen profitability and overall supply-chain utilization without the burden of additional overhead and front of house operations typically associated with launching a new restaurant," said André Moraes, senior director of marketing at PepsiCo Foodservice. "PepsiCo Foodservice leads with innovation; we are constantly seeking new opportunities to learn and modernize to bring our customers cutting-edge capabilities to fuel their growth and drive success. Digital Lab provides new and existing partners with a one-stop-shop to enter the space so they can focus on what they do best: creating delicious meals that delight consumers."
The new ghost kitchen offering is also designed to create a create a turnkey, scalable solution for customers who want to bring their flavors to new or existing markets, grow their off-premise footprint and drive revenue. PepsiCo makes the process seamless by packaging up best-in-class digital marketing concepts while also providing expertise on culinary creations, menu optimization, media, launch strategies and more, according to the company. Customers are invited to harness the power of PepsiCo's portfolio of beverages and snack brands, including Pepsi, Mtn Dew, Doritos and Cheetos, to create uniquely branded menu items and virtual experiences.
Purchase-based PepsiCo generated more than $79 billion in net revenue in 2021, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker and SodaStream.