“A typical restaurant in Dubai, pre-covid, made around 40% of its revenue on delivery. Today, that same restaurant because of covid is making 85-90% of its revenue through delivery,” said Bader Ataya, Chief Growth Officer and Cofounder of Kitopi at LBS’s Middle East Insight’s panel.
At 50 kitchens in the gulf, 150 brands, and 4 new brands per market every 2 weeks, Kitopi is well on its way to achieve its mission of satisfying the world’s appetite. “We want to open up to 6 new markets next year, we can’t tell you which ones those are - just stay tuned to our website.”
Ataya noted that there are a multitude of opportunities ahead, not just for cloud kitchens like Kitopi, but the F&B industry as a whole. But, the true winners were the ones who pioneered and were first movers, both titles Kitopi can claim a prize for. “We built SKOS or our Smart-tech Kitchen Operating System, which is our in-house, self-built tech solution. This helps us to scale, monitor, and track the food made to ensure it maintains brand standards.”
Bader also talked about continuously prioritizing the customer and always trying to foresee and deliver what they need, on their terms. “We’ve invested in a CX experience center and consistent training to help with this.”
A larger part of the focus of the event was on how Kitopi, not only survived the pandemic but thrived from it.
Ataya explained that when Covid hit with the initial lockdown, there was a strong reluctance when it came to food delivery, hence, the F&B industry was heavily impacted. “We experienced a significant decline in orders, therefore, enhancing and ensuring health and safety became our top priority.”
He went on to explain how Kitopi installed thermal cameras and AI tech to help their people keep a check on their health in the kitchens. Kitopi was also one of the first organizations in the Middle East to launch a work from anywhere policy, amidst a pandemic, to protect their mental and physical wellbeing.
To hear more of Bader’s talk with LBS, check out the full video!