Battle of the brands: How dark stores are changing cities

In most European cities, you’ll see bikes whizzing past with neon branding carrying fresh orders of pad thai or paella, or perhaps bags of groceries — sometimes less than 15 minutes after a customer presses check out on their phone.

It goes without saying that demand for food delivery was on a steep rise during Covid-19; McKinsey now estimates the global food delivery market to be worth over $150bn. This was only possible because of the rise in delivery kitchens — or “ghost kitchens” — that exist only to cook for delivery, rather than indoor dining, and are now dotted around most European cities.

This hunger for convenient home delivery has fuelled further hospitality innovation; ghost kitchens go hand in hand with the rise of dark stores, or food storage centres hidden in traditional storefronts. These support a massive wave of on-demand grocery delivery startups, with some promising eggs and bananas to your door “within minutes”.