Ghost kitchen calculator
Ghost kitchens are touted as a way to launch a restaurant with low overhead costs. This calculator can help operators assess the financial profile and determine the feasibility of a ghost kitchen before developing their own concept.
Formulas in the calculator below were created by Dan Fleischmann of Timber Grove Ventures. Fleischmann previously worked for Kitchen Fund as a restaurant and food technology investor. Data entered into the calculator will not be recorded or shared.
First, we’ll need some information about your restaurant and expectations for a ghost kitchen. Fill in each purple box in the three categories below.
We included preset data, which illustrates a typical restaurant’s operating structure in a major metro area. You can clear each box and add your own data by clicking inside. If you’d like to clear out all presets, use the “Clear presets” button.
Variable
Fixed (unit-level)
One-time investment
Ghost kitchen business P&L
| Amount | % of sales | |
|---|---|---|
| Total ghost kitchen sales | ||
| 3rd party delivery commission | ||
| Food & paper | ||
| Commission to landlord | ||
| Gross profit | ||
| Labor | ||
| Rent | ||
| Delivery fee on direct sales | ||
| Other operating expenses | ||
| Profit |
Returns analysis
| Investment cost | |
| Profit | |
| ROIC |
Methodology
For this story, Restaurant Dive used an economic model created by Dan Fleischmann, formerly vice president at Kitchen Fund, an investor in the emerging restaurant sector. Now, Fleischmann is managing partner at Timber Grove Ventures. To create this model, Fleischmann leveraged his expertise assessing thousands of restaurants and his diligence of leading ghost kitchen providers and its tenants to build a tool for restaurant operators considering a ghost kitchen.
