In the last year, food delivery has grown by 125 percent.

CREATIVE 
Food Futurist
Tyler Shin

To meet that surge in a hard-hit economy, Tyler Shin offers restaurateurs fully outfitted commercial kitchens for rental from his space in Garland. The “ghost” kitchens overcome capital demands and administrative burdens. Recently launched is the “future of food” in Dallas: a batched menu concept for customers to order from multiple restaurants, satisfying all cravings with one delivery fee.

Meet the innovator

Tyler Shin was featured in Dallas Innovates’ Future 50 in Dallas-Fort Worth in the 2021 edition of our annual magazine. We talk with the foodie founder about his unique business model, the impact of COVID-19, and plans for the future. Here’s a takeaway:

On Revolving Kitchen’s business model:

The traditional restaurant model saddles business owners with insurmountable capital demands and administrative burdens. Here at Revolving Kitchen, we offer modern commercial kitchens and turnkey delivery technologies to help food businesses thrive.

Revolving Kitchen leverages economies of scale to drive down capital requirements and increase operational efficiencies. Our 25 modern virtual kitchens and streamlined food technologies provide business owners fully-equipped commercial kitchens and food delivery solutions—all at a fraction of the cost associated with the traditional restaurant model. To date, Revolving Kitchen has helped 50+ business owners realize their dream and expand their food business.

On the company’s biggest wins over the last year:

Revolving Kitchen has helped 50+ business owners reach their dream and expand their food businesses since our launch in 2019. Our 25 modern virtual kitchens and streamlined food technologies offer business owners fully-equipped commercial kitchens and food delivery solutions—all at a fraction of the cost associated with the traditional restaurant model.

We continue to explore novel ways to create a seamless virtual kitchen. Revolving Kitchen is proud to announce its new batched online menu concept. Imagine it’s Friday night, and you’re with family and friends. Your group is craving delicious Polynesian food, vegan dishes, and hamburgers—all from different restaurants. Our new online menu allows you to order on single platform and receive menu items at one time—all while incurring a single delivery fee. Now you can satisfy your group’s food cravings and enjoy meals together at one low delivery rate!]

On the future of online food delivery:

Our virtual kitchens allow restaurants to capture surging demand for online food orders while minimizing costs and reducing administrative hassle. Online food delivery has grown by 125 percent over the last year.[1] Industry experts forecasted strong growth in off-premise food demand even before COVID-19. In 2018 multinational investment bank UBS predicted online food delivery would grow from $35 billion globally to $365 billion by 2030.

Revolving Kitchen helps restaurants reach this rapidly growing segment of consumers. Our delivery-optimized commercial kitchens and technology solutions streamline online food delivery. Revolving Kitchen also shoulders burdens traditionally handled by food businesses. Restaurants are no longer forced to expend time and energy on front-of-house operations, utility bills, equipment maintenance, building repair or health inspections. We handle administrative burdens so food businesses can focus on what they do best—create a great food product.  

On responding to the challenges of COVID-19:

Our immediate response to COVID-19 was a focus on the needs of our local community and our Revolving Kitchen members. Restaurants and caterers experienced a sudden decrease in clientele in March 2020. Brick-and-mortar locations shuttered and social events were canceled. Revolving Kitchen responded and offered reduced rates to food businesses most impacted by the pandemic and provided free Food Safety and Food Manager Certification courses to members of the local food community.

Revolving Kitchen also dedicated resources to meet the demand of delivery-oriented food businesses. COVID-19 accelerated the trend for commercial kitchens purpose-built for food delivery. Fifteen percent of restaurant operators used a ghost kitchen prior to COVID-19 according to the National Restaurant Association. By May 2020 an astounding 51 percent of operators reported leveraging ghost kitchens for some or all of their delivery orders. To meet the growing demand for our services, we re-designed our facilities and developed innovative technological solutions to help restaurants target online audiences.

On building a resilient team:

The Revolving Kitchen staff consists of a small group of incredible individuals. Our first priority in these difficult times is to make sure our employees’ needs are met. Our staff members have important lives that exist outside of the workplace—and COVID-19 made these lives quite hectic. To foster team resilience we are as flexible as possible to help our employees meet demands that exist outside work—and we developed a rapport with our co-workers so they have the confidence to relay those needs to us.

On what’s next for Revolving Kitchen:

We continue to explore novel ways to create a seamless virtual kitchen! We are excited to announce the launch of an innovative new tech initiative in December 2020 that will allow Dallasites to more quickly access dozens of their favorite restaurant brands at a much lower cost than current online food delivery apps. The new Revolving Kitchen platform will streamline food orders and modernize the delivery experience—all while increasing restaurant margins and reducing consumer costs. Buckle up Dallas—the future of food is here!

A version of this story was originally published in Dallas Innovates 2021: The Resilience Issue.

Read it online

Our fourth annual magazine, Dallas Innovates 2021: The Resilience Issue, highlights Dallas-Fort Worth as a hub for innovation. The collective strength of the innovation ecosystem and intellectual capital in Dallas-Fort Worth is a force to be reckoned with.

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