food

Ghost kitchens: In the news for fraud, and as a good VC investment?

I went out to dinner 2 weeks ago and ended up talking to a TV reporter for an investigative segment he was working on about the ghost kitchens of GrubHub. That particular restaurant’s owner was shocked to find his establishment being advertised on GrubHub since he does not have a listing there, and doesn’t even do delivery. So who made the food that the online delivery customer ordered? And who received the customer’s cash for it?

This brand hijacking system needs an immediate revisit.

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I saw that a week earlier, a local blog reported the poor conditions at a ghost kitchen.

Read broke-ass Stuart’s reporting on ghost kitchens in San Francisco’s SOMA district.

Read broke-ass Stuart’s reporting on ghost kitchens in San Francisco’s SOMA district.

And yet today, an industry intelligence newsletter says that "ghost kitchens are red hot" today because they let restaurants operate without brick and mortar dining locations. That’s PitchBook Data.

Meanwhile, the ghost kitchens turn out fraudulent food, defrauding restaurants and diners alike (as seen in the news stories above). This is a good investment? In the time of COVID19??

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