Source: iStock | ampueroleonardoUber Eats is purging 5,000 ghost kitchens from its app and setting stricter rules for the remaining ones after finding its platform flooded by virtual restaurants listing similar food options under different names. It’s fair to say that kind of erodes consumer confidence,” John Mullenholz, head of dark kitchens at Uber Eats, told The Wall Street Journal. Uber Eats’ new guidelines require virtual locations to have menu items “at least 60 percent different” from any other online restaurants operating from the same location. For food establishments, having an excessive number of virtual restaurants operating from the same kitchen decreases the overall level of competition. Has the ghost kitchen model been validated over the course of the pandemic?

Source: Washington Post June 15, 2023 19:18 UTC