I’m really enjoying reading What’s it Like Working in a Ghost Kitchen.
It’s interesting how I don’t really think of retail restaurants correctly – I think that the shop is producing all the products sold there.
They aren’t. They are producing the final product – the food in the bag – but the components might be produced elsewhere, just like how branded drinks are dispensed at the restaurant, but not produced there.
Likewise, if I order something online, I think there’s an actual restaurant with a counter, somewhere.
I’m wrong. A restaurant isn’t required.
The restaurant also takes on different forms: fast food, sit down with service, high end with service, cafeteria.
People have some ideas of what a “regular” restaurant is: I think it’s a local fast food place, or sit down with service: anywhere with ceramic or plastic plates. People with more money might think the high-end type is “regular”. Others might think regional chain fast food is “regular”.
They have different production processes.
These online-only restaurants have different brands to categorize their product lines. This is similar to restaurants that brand themselves by an ethnic category.
It’s all interesting, and thinking about it, helps to see our biases and reality.