Over the last few years, Canada’s food service industry has undeniably witnessed the rise of a new operational format: cloud kitchens — or ghost kitchens, virtual kitchens. These kitchens — part of the fast-growing trend in the restaurant industry of delivery-only establishments — are changing the way Canadians are eating.
With the increasing urban population and consumer demand for convenience, the cloud kitchen industry is expected to be a prominent part of Canada’s economy in the future. But now with those virtual brands on a growth surge, along comes the new wrinkle of being able to manage that food and inventory efficiently across all those virtual brands and platforms.
Conventional inventory management systems aren't cutting it anymore. Smart, automated solutions are needed to help cloud kitchens cut down on waste, manage stock and boost profitability.
There is no storefront at a cloud kitchen. Instead they serve only to prepare menu items for delivery. Third-party delivery apps are behind a 25-per-cent year-over-year growth in the food delivery sector, Statistics Canada and industry research have found.
With lower overheads (no dine-in staff or customer facing interior) and scale potential, cloud kitchens have proven especially attractive for:
The majority of cloud kitchens house multiple brands under one roof — each with its own menu, pricing and demand curves. But back in the kitchen, all those brands are using the same kitchen staff, preparing the food with mostly the same ingredients and storing it on identical shelves.
When your chicken serves three different brands, how do you avoid double ordering — or worse, running out during a busy shift?
That is what traditional pen-and-paper notes, Excel spreadsheets or antiquated restaurant POS systems don’t do.
Cloud kitchens need cloud-based tools. Which is why when you’re first starting out in business, you need to make the investment in inventory software that:
We at StockTake Online are ahead in the market in providing next‑gen inventory solutions for the food industry — cloud kitchen, ghost kitchen and virtual restaurants in Canada.
Unlike with any POS you might have used, StockTake Online can tackle multi-brand stock usage, recipe-level tracking, real-time dashboarding – with it all in one place.
This is how we help cloud kitchens find success in an on-the-go industry.
Cloud kitchens frequently manage anywhere between 3–7 brands out of the same location. Our software lets you map common ingredients across multiple menus sans confusion—whether it’s chicken wings, sauces, or packaging, you know when something’s getting low and what you’re just plain using too much of.
Explore this feature: StockTake Online Features
StockTake Online automatically updates stock levels whenever an order is dispatched – that way you always have the best stock count. You will be aware if you are getting low long before it impacts your operation.
We also have the ability to set detailed recipes and yield-based measurements for every menu item across brands. This means your staff can be coached on using just enough of each ingredient — which helps to ensure food consistency and reduce over-portioning.
This also tidies your COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) numerations.
Food waste is expensive. By automating waste tracking, you can record that spoilage, overcooking or accidental loss — and create a weekly report that shows you where it’s happening.
With our inbuilt Inventory Waste Calculator, you can see exactly how much money you’re literally throwing away — and put a stop to it.
Whether you’re on delivery aggregators, POS systems, or even ERP platforms (from WooCommerce to Sage X3) — our Partner Integrations make sure StockTake Online not only fits in your stack but plays ball too.
Use StockTake Online to get to your kitchen data from anywhere – great for operators that have multiple cloud kitchen locations.
You get centralized reporting on:
A 2–3% cut in waste can represent thousands of dollars in savings per month. Then factor in better ordering, fewer stockouts, and better vendor negotiations — and it’s obvious why a small cost for the right inventory software can lead to a massive payoff.
In such a competitive market, there are thin razor margins on profit. The kitchens that win are the ones that view inventory management as a profit lever, not a back-office headache.
One of our customers, a multi-brand ghost kitchen in Toronto, transitioned to StockTake Online after having difficulties with Excel-based inventory and inconsistent stock checks.
After 3 months:
The operations team could finally see what was being ordered, prepped and wasted — across brands.
As demand increases, the cloud kitchen space will become even more crowded. Operators will have to scale on:
Inventory software is no longer a “nice to have” — it’s a survival tool.
The fate of food delivery in Canada rests on back-end efficiency as much as marketing and menu innovation. If there’s a glitch in your supply chain, your margins are going to disappear — no matter how delicious your food is.
Attention! Cloud kitchen operator, Canadian food entrepreneur, multi-brand restaurant manager — from Toronto to B.C. Discover the benefits of better inventory.
Reach new levels of operational clarity, profitability and success in Canada's rapidly changing delivery-first economy with StockTake Online.