JustKitchen

JustKitchen operates a network of delivery-only cloud kitchens in Taiwan and Hong Kong and offers a portfolio of proprietary and partnered food brands using a hub-and-spoke operating model. In this model, meals are first semi-prepared in full-scale commercial kitchens (hubs) and later completed by smaller finishing kitchens (spokes). Typically, one hub kitchen serves multiple spokes located in high-density areas, and orders are automatically routed to spoke kitchens closest to the customer.

JustKitchen’s revenue streams include in-house food brands focused on the company’s own signature menu items and established global partner brands including Formosa Chang, Smith & Wollensky, and TGI Fridays for which JustKitchen prepares delivery-only menu items. The company also operates an e-commerce grocery delivery platform called JustMarket that allows customers to purchase artisanal food items from the in-house food brands or grocery items from the partner brands. The items can be ordered via the JustMarket e-commerce platform or added on to meal orders placed on JustKitchen. As of June 2022, the company operates 27 cloud kitchen locations across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Philippines and offers 33 food brands across the four countries.

JustKitchen pairs its hub-and-spoke operating model with online and mobile-based food ordering through a proprietary JustKitchen Operating System (JKOS). Fulfillment is completed by third-party delivery providers in a bid to minimize costs and reach underserved customers. The JKOS supports the real-time capture and analysis of customer data, allowing the company to measure the popularity of food items and predict peak ordering times. Coupled with an in-house Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to track inventory, this proprietary technology ecosystem enables JustKitchen to optimize its supply chain, tailor purchasing in line with seasonal variations, and reduce food wastage.

JustKitchen also prioritizes licensing third-party food brands, expanding to new markets, and securing new partners. In December 2021, JustKitchen formed a licensing agreement with REEF Technology, which gives the company virtual rights to DJ Khaled’s ‘ Another Wing’ brand in South-East Asia. In November 2021, the company expanded into the Philippines through a joint venture with Manila-based Transnational Diversified Group (TDG) Ventures. In July 2021, JustKitchen formed collaborative agreements with last-mile food delivery players Foodpanda and Zeek to reach on-demand customers in Hong Kong. In July 2022, the company entered the Indian market via a royalty-based virtual kitchen services agreement. This made JustKitchen's food brands available for delivery in India through Kitchens Centre, India's largest co-shared kitchen space provider. In August 2022, the company launched two new delivery-only proprietary food brands – C'mon Eat Mini Hot Pot and Pizza Central NY Style – in Taiwan. In September 2022, JustKitchen announced the expansion of the company's brands to Thailand via GrabKitchen,the global cloud kitchen platform of Grab. JustKitchen and Grab initially partnered in April 2022 to open two cloud kitchen locations in the Philippines through Just Kitchen’s joint venture entity in the Philippines. In October 2022, the company signed an agreement with Virtual Dining Concepts to license the virtual branding rights to MrBeast Burger and other well known US delivery-only food brands. The license enables JustKitchen to sell MrBeast Burger food items via online, mobile, e-commerce, and walk-in outlets in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

In the company’s third fiscal quarter ending June 2022, it recorded a revenue of CAD 5.17 million (USD 3.95 million), a 54.5% YoY increase compared to Q3 2021. The company’s revenue from retail customers grew 47.3% YoY to CAD 4.67 million (USD 3.57 million). The adjusted EBITDA loss for Q3 2022 was CAD 3.37 million (USD 2.58 million), a 64% increase compared to the loss of CAD 2.06 million (USD 1.57 million) in Q3 2021. The increased losses were primarily due to an overall increase in business activities, international expansions, and a 32.2% increase in general and administrative costs.

JustKitchen was Taiwan’s first cloud kitchen startup to go public on the TSX Venture Exchange in Toronto, Canada in April 2021. Since then, the company has also been listed on the OTC Markets “QB” exchange in the US as well as on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany.

The company’s focus is on geographic expansion. As of May 2022 the company has around 28 locations across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines. Further expansion is planned across the Asia Pacific and the US. In March 2022, JustKitchen also announced that it had begun licensing the rights to its proprietary food brands and JKOS technology to qualified third-party commercial kitchens across Taiwan and Hong Kong.