Digital disruption: the hyperlocal delivery and cloud kitchen driven future of food services in post-COVID India

PurposeThe pervasive impact of the COVID-19 virus on the food services sector in India has created conditions for fundamentally altering the structure of the industry. This paper offers a nuanced evaluation of the transfiguration of the market, explaining descriptive views supported by numerous secondary data sources.Design/methodology/approachThis is a self-driven study grounded in secondary data. Qualitative and quantitative assessments are assimilated from credible market research reports of multiple agencies in the Indian context, as well as news developments during the pandemic period.FindingsDigitally pivoted platforms such as cloud kitchens and delivery aggregators will eclipse all other formats due to the potential long-term prevalence of the COVID-19 virus. These formats would rise to a dominant position in the Indian food services sector in the coming decade.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is entirely driven by secondary data due to the inherent difficulties of collecting sizeable and good quality primary data as a result of the lengthy and stringent lockdowns imposed across India. Future studies should consider collecting consumer responses to get a better picture of changing dining habits in the post-pandemic scenario.Practical implicationsThe dynamic and evolving food services in India, catalyzed by the Internet and digital technologies will help academicians study the long-term implications of this change, and how it would impact society at large. The paper provides a rich body of contemporary data and analysis in the food services sphere.Social implicationsThe COVID-19 pandemic and its long-term persistence would dramatically alter food service consumption across India. This will not only change how the industry is structured, but will reshape how food is consumed into the future.Originality/valueThe study is a holistic examination of the relationship between the coronavirus pandemic and the food services industry in India. The macro perspectives aided by news coverage and industry research would help generate potential research questions on its own merits.

Cooking the/in Common: Elements of the Differential Production of Space in Collective Kitchens' Actions during the Covid-19 Pandemic

If, on the one hand, the intensification of social inequalities is an evident effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, on the other hand, it is also necessary to bring to light the popular organizations that gained strength in this sad period. These are self-organized local organizations such as community kitchens and gardens, neighborhood associations, health brigades, and other experiences that have been showing us that doing politics is much more than simply going to vote every two years. Such spatial practices confer the existence of what Henri Lefebvre (2013) calls "differential space", spaces of use, residues of the hegemonic everyday life, and, at the same time, resistance to it. As places of experimentation, they are also related to what Stavrides (2016) proposes as "thresholds", portals in which the common is allowed to emerge. This article presents these concepts as reading keys to understanding the actions and practices of community and collective kitchens from Curitiba during 2020 and 2021, in particular one maintained by the Marmitas da Terra collective, linked to the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST). As well, intends to analyze how these spaces can collaborate to the emergence of common practices and actions in urban daily life.

Study of asymptomatic norovirus infection in kitchen workers in key places in Tongzhou district, Beijing, 2019-2021

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of asymptomatic norovirus infections status in kitchen workers in schools, child care settings, and catering service units and other key places in Tongzhou district of Beijing from 2019 to 2021, and provide evidence for scientific prevention and control of norovirus infection. Methods: The simple random sampling method was used to select the kitchen workers, especially the kitchen workers preparing cold dish, from catering service units, schools, childcare settings, construction sites, hotels as study subjects, and their anal swabs or stool samples were collected for norovirus nucleic acid detection by fluorescence quantitative PCR. Descriptive method was used to analyze the asymptomatic norovirus infection status of the kitchen workers. Results: A total of 3880 samples were collected from 552 units, and 15 norovirus positive cases were detected, including 1 sample positive for GI and 14 samples positive for GII. The asymptomatic norovirus infection rate was 0.39% (15/3880), in which 0.30% (5/1656) in man, and 0.45% (10/2224) in women. No asymptomatic infections were detected in age groups < 18 years and > 60 years, and 2055 cases were detected in age group 19- years, with a positive rate of 0.34% (7/2055), and 1637 cases were detected in age group 46- years, with a positive rate of 0.49% (8/1637). In 2019 when no COVID-19 epidemic occurred, the asymptomatic norovirus infection rate was 1.00% (1/100), but the asymptomatic norovirus infection rate was 0.39% (11/2805)in 2020 and 0.31%(3/975)in 2021 in the context of COVID-19 epidemic. Conclusion: The asymptomatic norovirus infection rate in kitchen workers in key places in Tongzhou was similar to the average level in Beijing during the same period. In COVID-19 epidemic period, the asymptomatic norovirus infection rate was lower than that before the epidemic.

In-house responses and anxiety levels of commercial kitchen employees towards new COVID 19 food safety regulations

The development of COVID-19 into a global epidemic has made it necessary to regulate foodservice practices to minimize the risk of transmission. The main purpose of this study is to determine the effects of awareness, perception, and anxiety levels of kitchen staff on attitudes toward the implementation of new practices regarding novel COVID-19 regulations. Empirical data were collected from 721 kitchen staff working at certified food and beverage establishments, hotels, and restaurants in Turkey. The study results indicated a negative correlation between attitude toward application and anxiety and a positive correlation between awareness and attitude. Significant differences were also detected in the dimensions of awareness, perception, anxiety, and attitude regarding the demographic features of the participants. Kitchens are the nerve center of the foodservice industry. The study extends the value of the in-house (kitchen) responses to improve the food handling practices in commercial kitchens regarding the implementation of new COVID-19 regulations.

Worker exploitation in the gig economy: the case of dark kitchens

Purpose: The emergence of dark kitchens in the restaurant industry is a contemporary phenomenon, arising most recently in the context of the so-called gig economy. This new business model flourished during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on a global scale. Despite dark kitchens' popularity, considerable negative publicity exists in the news related to poor working conditions. To highlight this new phenomenon, this paper explores the existing literature on worker exploitation in dark kitchens in the context of the gig economy. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review of hospitality and tourism databases generated 1,430 articles, of which 18 met the authors' inclusion criteria for the final analysis, and 1,030 anecdotal sources, of which 47 were included. Thematic analysis was used to identify the key themes and summarise the findings to be used for further studies. Findings: The popularity of dark kitchens as a business model is premised on the fact that dark kitchens' dramatically reduces the operational cost and increases productivity. On the other hand, the working conditions and contractual agreements of the gig workers in dark kitchens raise several questions from operational, legal and ethical perspective. These poor working conditions create the conditions for worker exploitation and further damage the sector's image. Practical implications: This study advocates that companies and managers are responsible for implementing and monitoring fair working conditions in dark kitchens. The existence of poor working conditions increases employee turnover and, overall, affects the industry's reputation. Originality/value: This explorative study provides insights into the working conditions and contractual agreements in dark kitchens. Currently, there is no other study (empirical or conceptual) to shed light on the working practices. The authors hope this study will trigger further discussion and empirical research in this field. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Platform urbanism in a pandemic: Dark stores, ghost kitchens, and the logistical-urban frontier

As demand for e-commerce surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, investors began pouring billions into start-ups promising to accelerate digitization and automation in small-margin, winner-take-all sectors, such as retail, grocery, and dining. I examine two business models that feature prominently in this swell of financial optimism: dark stores and ghost kitchens. Both sacrifice consumer-facing real estate to create logistical spaces for online order fulfillment, and both are predicted to become permanent fixtures of the post-pandemic economic landscape. However, few have commented on the consequences of this future-in-the-making or who is likely to suffer them. The essay therefore anticipates how "going dark” may impact consumers, workers, and urban geographies. I argue that going dark represents a new threshold in the spatial materialities and financial imaginary of platform urbanism, what I call the logistical-urban frontier. I theorize how this frontier threatens historically disenfranchised urban communities, and I conclude the essay with a reflection on the conflicted temporalities of logistical speculation.

Building common understandings of urban inequalities to generate relevant solutions in Lima, Peru

In this article, we analyse the structural causes of inequality in Lima - beginning with a review of the historical context - to propose a multidimensional approach to urban inequality. We discuss spatial, public-institutional and political-social fragmentation and how these factors contribute to the reproduction of urban inequality. We supplement this discussion by describing two initiatives that contributed to the creation of a collective understanding of inequality and strategies to deal with it. First, we worked with marginalized social groups promoting collective care practices to address food insecurity resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with this, we developed a National Housing and Urban Planning Policy with the Peruvian Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation that included a definition of urban inequality and the creation of an index for urban inequality. In each case, we discuss the difficulties faced, whether by citizens or the state, in trying to reach relevant solutions to address inequalities.

Ethical and sustainable perceptions on cloud kitchen business - a study of consumers and stakeholders during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cloud kitchen has evolved as a popular means to meet the growing demand of home-delivered food during the pandemic. The purpose of this research is to gauge the perception of consumers as well as stakeholders about the ethical correctness of cloud kitchen models of business and whether the cloud kitchen model is sustainable or not. The manuscript is primary and quantitative in nature. The data was collected during the period of pandemic from the respondents living in Delhi and Kolkata. The research focuses on the Utility, Rights, Fairness and Care constructs of ethics to gauge the perception of respondents about cloud kitchen business including its sustainability and challenges. The analysis was done running ANOVA and binomial distribution. The consumers as well as stakeholders and employees appear to be positively responding on the question of the cloud kitchen model being ethically correct on the 4 constructs and they seem to agree that Cloud Kitchens are sustainable. Very little existing literature is available on the ethical and sustainability aspects of cloud kitchen model with Utility, Rights, Fairness and Care constructs. Thus, it is the first paper of its kind and is expected to add to the existing body of literature.

Food delivery, ghost kitchens and virtual restaurants: temporary or long-lasting game changers?

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the phenomenon of online food purchasing in Italy and, specifically, Italian consumers' future intentions to use these services even after the end of the COVID-19 emergency. To this purpose, to understand if these phenomena are robust enough to represent irreversible and well-established trends, in the present study, consumers' Behavioural Intention was investigated.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical framework based on a preliminary literature analysis on the use of delivery services was developed. Then, an online survey was carried out in Italy during 2021. The data were then elaborated through an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Following the verification of constructs reliability, a structural equation modelling (SEM) using the statistical tools, SPSS and R (Lavaan) was performed.FindingsThe results suggest that Behavioural Intention is influenced by items such as convenience, variety of food and time savings. Moreover, the relevant role of social networks and interpersonal relationships in influencing consumers' purchasing intentions has highlighted the importance of focussing on advertising campaigns and good "word of mouth."Originality/valueThe present research represents the first attempt to investigate the food delivery and ghost kitchens' phenomena, recently accepted thanks to the delivery applications use in Italy, a Country with strong gastronomic tradition and with an important digital gap. In this scenario, the research focused on the attention on the consumers' future intentions to use these services even after the end of the COVID-19 emergency.

Food safety knowledge and risk perception among pregnant women: A cross-sectional study in Jordan during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundPregnant women are at a higher risk of food poisoning compared to the general population. This can be detrimental to both the mother and the fetus. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge and risk perception of basic food safety and handling among pregnant women in Jordan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional quantitative study among pregnant women in Jordan was conducted using an online questionnaire between November 2020 and January 2021. The survey included socio-demographic data, food safety knowledge, and risk perception questions as well as COVID-19 related questions. A total score for food safety awareness out of 50 was derived for each participant based on the sum of scores from all domains. Student t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were conducted using SPSS (Version 26) to compare the mean sum of correct responses of every section (knowledge score) by sociodemographic characteristics. ResultsA total of 325 participants completed the web-based survey. Most of the participants reported receiving food safety-related information during pregnancy (64.9%). The mean total score for the participants was 23.3 +/- 4.6 out of 50 (score percentage 46.6%). Participants were mostly aware of foodborne diseases (82.7%) followed by cleaning and sanitation (51.2%), and personal hygiene (49.1%). The least amount of awareness was observed in the cross-contamination (35.0%), food consumption and safety (35.0%), and temperature control (32.8%) domains. Older participants and those with higher education had significantly higher mean scores (p < 0.001). Most participants agreed that the pandemic had a positive impact on enhancing the measures taken to maintain food safety during the pandemic. ConclusionsThis study identified gaps in food safety-related knowledge. Educational programs for pregnant women need robust reinforcement within the community. Efficient educational approaches related to food safety should be provided by health care providers and local health authorities. While the COVID-19 pandemic persists, pregnant women must be well-educated about the virus and its prevention strategies to avoid being infected and ensure their baby's safety as well as their own.

The activation of the settled. The community kitchens in the sociocultural fabric of the vulnerable neighborhoods during the pandemic

The aim of this article is to reflect on the specific role, practices and dynamics deployed by a key actor in vulnerable neighborhoods in times of pandemic: community kitchens. In this context we ask: What perspectives did these actors build about the food situation of families in general and children and adolescents in particular? How did they organize themselves in order to manage the food issue? What knowledge and meanings were put into play? What characteristics did the link with families and children and adolescents in particular assume? What role did other policies and programs that were directly or indirectly associated with food such as the Emergency Family Income, the Universal Child Allowance and the Alimentar Card play? A qualitative approach, based on in-depth interviews, is used to address these questions, taking eight popular neighborhoods in La Plata, Berisso and Ensenada as case studies.

Public awareness about the usage of medicinal herbs found in the kitchen and their potential against COVID-19 disease

For the past two years, the globe has been in deep despair as a result of the fast spread of the new Coronavirus, SARS CoV-2, and several of its variations such as Delta, Omicron, and others. This pandemic has caused widespread rumours and misconceptions, wreaking havoc on the worldwide health-care system. Due to the periodic outbreaks of this infectious disease, along with the administration of effective antiviral vaccines and adherence to mandatory government protocols, every human being's recourse has been to strengthen their immunity to resist this infectious disease using kitchen ingredients like herbs and spices with medicinal properties and other home remedies. The results showed that there was a significant rise in the usage of kitchen pharmacy and the application of traditional knowledge, compared to the pre-pandemic times, owing to its immunity boosting properties. Along with increase in usage of kitchen pharmacy, there was also a surge observed in usage of ayurveda, other home remedies and yoga, in comparison with allopathy. The statistical analysis showed that 40.9% of the respondents showed marked recovery after the continual usage of home remedies.

From brick-and-mortar to location-less restaurant: The spatial fixing of on-demand food delivery platformization

Location has historically been vital to a restaurant's success. However, in the past decade, on-demand food delivery (ODFD) platforms like Meituan, Deliveroo, and Uber Eats have progressively increased their market shares, recently facilitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the new circumstances, are restaurants still constrained by conventional locational factors, such as transport accessibility, customer proximity, and industrial agglomeration? How do ODFD platforms impact the geography of restaurants? This paper innovatively offers a comparative analysis of the different spatial distributions of brick-and-mortar and platform-dependent restaurants. Based on the case of Nanjing, China, robust empirical evidence demonstrates how platformization has spatially affected the catering sector. Using data from the most popular Chinese ODFD platform, Meituan, we analyze the following spatial characteristics of the catering sector in the urban core of Nanjing: transport accessibility, density pattern, agglomeration degree, and horizontal and vertical locational patterns. The findings suggest that platform-dependent restaurants have reduced dependence on transport accessibility. Compared with traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants, platform-dependent restaurants are more dispersed spatially, not only horizontally but also vertically. The digital turn in the catering sector is also noticeably associated with the rise of informal restaurants, such as ghost kitchens in vacant high-rise office spaces.

Temporality and Spatiality of Food: How Community Kitchens Write Food Narratives Amidst Pandemics

Food often causes recollections of the past by which a historical consciousness is created. The Covid-19 pandemic and the national lockdown in India that followed it saw the rise of community kitchens in the state of Kerala, organized by the state government and other organizations. A Community Kitchen is a name given to a group of people who prepare and share healthy meals with people, at an inexpensive rate. Taking the case of Kerala as an example, this paper will look at how physical places where food is prepared and shared are filled with food memories and become a factor in the creation of people's cultural memories. It will look at how communities react to the stigma caused by a pandemic in the form of mobilization through food. The paper will study how food forms the basis of the shared experience and collective memory of the lockdown and the pandemic. It will do a holistic culinary analysis of how food becomes a mediator between public history and personal memory by becoming an 'edible memory', where food leads to actions that create cultural memories. Other aspects that the paper will study include the questions of how food, and memories associated with it creates a poly temporality, and how a food system created and driven by politics and the government construct the way in which a pandemic is remembered as a historical event.

Understanding the Online Environment for the Delivery of Food, Alcohol and Tobacco: An Exploratory Analysis of ‘Dark Kitchens’ and Rapid Grocery Delivery Services

Online spaces are increasingly important in the sale of food, alcohol and tobacco. This analysis focuses on two developments in online food delivery: delivery-only ‘dark kitchens’ and rapid grocery delivery services (RGDS), with the aim to understand and assess the availability of health harming and health promoting products through these services. Data was collected for one metropolitan local authority in London, UK, using publicly available online sources. Being explorative in nature, the analysis includes descriptive statistics and qualitative assessment. Three dark kitchens (renting kitchens to 116 food businesses), three grocery delivery apps, and 76 grocery businesses available through online delivery platforms were identified. Most businesses renting dark kitchen space were ‘virtual restaurants’ (52%) selling fast food (47%) or dessert (21%) through online delivery platforms. RGDS sold a variety of items, with a focus on pre-packaged foods high in fat, salt and sugar, alcoholic beverages and tobacco. These items were also most likely to be promoted through offers and promotional language. Fruits and vegetables were less commonly available and mainly on grocery delivery apps. Online delivery services increase the temporal and geographic availability and promotion of many unhealthy products. Research expanding on the geographic area of interest is needed.

Feeding, Solidarity, and Care: The Grassroots Experiences of Latin American Soup Kitchens in a Global Pandemic

This essay analyzes the importance of the ethics of care in the conception of citizenship apropos the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America. We state that the pandemic has made evident the urgent necessity to restore the city’s collectivistic social imagination as a locus for solidarity, social interactivity, and empathy, contrary to prevailing utilitarian dynamics produced by neoliberalism. Accordingly, we discuss the resurgence of soup kitchens as exemplary initiatives to promote the construction of citizenship based on kindness, reciprocity, and compassion. First, we posit a critical discussion of collective action and participatory publics to review the notions of care, otherness, and emotions. We consider these three concepts as quintessential to challenge dominant instrumentality in Latin American policies. In the second part, we review grassroots soup kitchen initiatives in Latin America, emphasizing the importance of creating social capital through intervening in the city and community resilience. We conclude by saying that citizenship and ethics of care must not be separate concepts but an integral part of one another. It may also be a strategy for agency formation in public spaces by considering care as a key civic participation element. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Food waste reduction and economic savings in times of crisis: The potential of machine learning methods to plan guest attendance in Swedish public catering during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Food waste is a significant problem within public catering establishments in any normal situation. During spring 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic placed the public catering system under greater pressure, revealing weaknesses within the system and generation of food waste due to rapidly changing consumption patterns. In times of crisis, it is especially important to conserve resources and allocate existing resources to areas where they can be of most use, but this poses significant challenges. This study evaluated the potential of a forecasting model to predict guest attendance during the start and throughout the pandemic. This was done by collecting data on guest attendance in Swedish school and preschool catering establishments before and during the pandemic, and using a machine learning approach to predict future guest attendance based on historical data. Comparison of various learning methods revealed that random forest produced more accurate forecasts than a simple artificial neural network, with conditional mean absolute prediction error of < 0.15 for the trained dataset. Economic savings were obtained by forecasting compared with a no-plan scenario, supporting selection of the random forest approach for effective forecasting of meal planning. Overall, the results obtained using forecasting models for meal planning in times of crisis confirmed their usefulness. Continuous use can improve estimates for the test period, due to the agile and flexible nature of these models. This is particularly important when guest attendance is unpredictable, so that production planning can be optimized to reduce food waste and contribute to a more sustainable and resilient food system.