5 minute read
NEVERNOTEATINGGOOD Where big appetites
1.Can you tell us the story behind the creation of “Never Not Eating Good” and how the concept of a cloud kitchen restaurant came about?
Nevernoteatinggood is a name and brand that came so organically to me. It started during lockdown when I made delicious meals for my family while finding inspiration from theinternet. I one day started saying “never not eating good” because I genuinely was never noteating good.
The concept of a cloud kitchen was motivated by the low operational costs of it all compared to abrick and mortar restaurant.
I then turned it into a profitable business and have been operating from the apartments I lived inever since. However, the restrictions of operating a food business from my home becamefrustrating as the business grew.
I was not able to accommodate all the orders that came in due to my kitchen not being big enough, the traffic it caused from customers waiting for their orders at the security gate, not making enough money to also employ more people etc. I then started researching on cloud kitchens until I came across “collective kitchens”, in Johannesburg Sandton
2.What sets “Never Not Eating Good” apart from traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants in the industry?
One of the things that really sets us apart is being able to meet the demand of orders without having the sit down part of a restaurant.We are on uber eats and MrD like they would too.
But what really sets us apart is being able to attract customers that solely focus on our foodrather then the aesthetics of a brick and mortar restaurant. We take our social media advertising /content creation really seriously. This helps us a lot in attracting walk-in customers from all overGauteng.
3.Could you walk us through the process of ordering from “Never Not Eating Good” and how customers receive their meals?
You are welcome to order through uber eats and MrD. Walk-ins are also welcome. We also dotake whatsapp orders for customers who would like to come and pick or send over and Uberconnect should they be out of the delivery radius.
4.What challenges did you face when starting a cloud kitchen restaurant, and how did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge for us at the moment is the supply versus demand on busy weekends.our brand is growing at an exponentially pace that the wait time for orders ranges between anhour to 2 and a half hours. customers are not too impressed by that. however, our equipment isnot big enough to make too many bulk orders in one go.the other challenge i can think of is not having a sit down area. it is a big limitation of ours. Peopleoften express how we should get a bigger space and how they would love to come and enjoy thefood fresh from the stove. But we unfortunately do not have enough capital to do so.
5. How do you ensure the quality and freshness of your food when operating solely from a cloud kitchen model?
Operating from a cloud kitchen allows us to only focus on the food and nothing else.
6. In what ways do you utilize technology and data to optimize your operations and cater to customer preferences?
TikTok is one of the platforms that made the brand grow exponentially. The consumers on thatapp actually come and buy. From all 3 cities we have operates from (Cape Town, Pretoria andjoburg). When we have a reel that is trending from there, the sales of that weekend will match thesocial media numbers.Instagram ads are one of the things that help grow our sales as well. Word of mouth is also something that helps grow sales!
7. What expansion plans or future developments do you have in mind for your cloud kitchen restaurant concept?
The ultimate expansion would really be a brick and mortar restaurant, however that needs a lotof capital. However, something that is within reach would be expanding to different locationsusing the same cloud kitchen model.
8. How do you see the future of cloud kitchen restaurants evolving in the African culinary scene, and what role do you envision “Never Not Eating Good” playing in that landscape?
Cloud kitchens are honestly such an amazing concept. The start up cost of a brick and mortarrestaurant is really what is getting in the way of many small food businesses reaching their full potential. A cloud kitchen allows you to come into the space with just your stock, labour and advertising and nothing else. The kitchen comes fully equipped.
I believe many small business can look at the growth of nevernoteatinggood and be inspired to operate from a cloud kitchen level. We are proof that location “kind of” doesn’t matter! Our cloud kitchen is somewhat hidden inwynberg but people still see our food on social media and insist on finding the place! We would attract so much more customers if we were in an open area. However, we hope our brand encourages investors to build more cloud kitchens for small business to grow into in areas that are more visible and easy to find.
