Genghis Grill Launches Virtual Brand
Genghis Grill has rolled out a virtual brand, Stir Fry Chef, to 36 locations in under 8 weeks.
Virtual Brands Heat Up
According to 2021 State of Digital for Restaurants, 50% of enterprise brands will launch some form of ghost, host or cloud kitchen concept in 2021, a market which is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030.
Genghis Grill is among the restaurants looking to boost incremental revenue, expanding brand reach and attracting new customers by adding virtual brands. Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, HOA Brands, Muscle Maker Grill, Fazoli's, Brinker International, Nathan's Famous, Chuck E. Cheese and Dog Haus have launched virtual brands in recent months, as demand for off-premises dining soared. One of the most advantageous is Concept Entertainment Group's online food hall concept, which received HT’s Industry Hero Award.
The average time for a brand to launch can take up to 6 months, but Genghis Grill was able to deploy its virtual brand quickly and efficiently by using Qu's unified ghost kitchen platform, KitchenUP. It’s a standalone solution that is not integrated with the legacy POS.
THE NEED FOR SPEED
“Speed was a key priority and we felt very confident that Qu had a solution and a collaborative approach that would enable us to deploy quickly and reach our goals,” said Genghis Grill's Chief Brand Officer Doug Willmarth.
KitchenUP is a fully packaged solution for managing any type of cloud kitchen operation. The solution harnesses digital-first architecture to provide unified order and kitchen management via a cloud-based single menu and single tablet solution. All cross-channel, cross-brand menus, orders, management, and reporting is centralized in one place.
For Qu, the goal is to empower restaurants of all sizes to spin out new concepts in a matter of weeks.
GOING NATIVE
Next, Willmarth plans to launch Qu’s native online ordering for Stir Fry Chef, creating a new owned website where they can build a direct relationship with guests.
Restaurant operators need better digital-first options for expanding their business. KitchenUP provides the speed and flexibility for entrepreneurial brands to creatively build any kitchen concept without the added stress of technology strangleholds, according to Qu.