Work brand by brand
List each brand's chilled and frozen items, daily use on the busiest delivery day, and days held. Brands often share base ingredients such as onions, curd and sauces, so note shared items separately to avoid counting them twice. Convert each line to GN pans or cartons as in our restaurant sizing guide.
Worked example: three brands
Assumptions: a biryani brand, a burger brand and a rolls brand; GN 1/1 pans filled to about 5 kg for bulky items such as roll fillings and 8 to 10 kg for denser ones; frozen cartons at about 0.5 kg per litre; quantities are for a busy weekend day.
| Brand | Chilled stock | Chilled GN 1/1 pans | Frozen stock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biryani | Marinated chicken 45 kg; curd and raita base 30 kg | 6 + 3 = 9 | - |
| Burgers | Cheese, sauces, lettuce, onions | 6 | Patties 25 kg/day × 4 days = 100 kg |
| Rolls | Fillings 20 kg; chutneys | 4 + 2 = 6 | Parathas 15 kg/day × 4 days = 60 kg |
| Total | 21 pans | 160 kg |
Splitting chilled capacity between stations
21 pans plus a 25% planning allowance is about 27 pan positions. In a cloud kitchen, the right split is usually an undercounter or chef base at each brand's station holding the service quantity, and one shared two-door reach-in for bulk stock. Two undercounters of about 6 positions each and a reach-in of about 16 positions give 28.
Undercounters double as worktops, which matters when floor space is tight. Front-breathing models suit lines built against walls with no rear gap.
Frozen capacity
160 kg of frozen stock at 0.5 kg/L is 320 L of product. At a packing efficiency of 0.6 (a planning assumption), that needs about 530 L of gross freezer volume. A chest freezer for back stock plus a small upright or freezer drawer near the burger station for the patties in use keeps the bulk freezer closed during peaks.
Cloud kitchen site realities
- Many cloud kitchens are in basements or closed units with heavy cooking loads. Ask what ambient each unit is rated to hold temperature in.
- Every plug-in unit adds roughly its electricity use as heat to the room. Ventilation must remove that heat as well as cooking heat.
- Shared sites see power cuts and voltage dips. Stagger restarts and consider stabilisers where voltage is poor.
- Delivery packaging and raw stock arrive at the same door. Keep raw meat storage separate from ready-to-pack items.
Planning for new brands
Cloud kitchens add and drop brands often. Choose a layout where an extra undercounter can slot into a station and keep spare sockets on the refrigeration circuits. Modular undercounters are easier to redeploy than one oversized walk-in. When a brand is added, rerun the stock list for it alone, then check whether the shared reach-in and freezer still have the 20 to 30% planning allowance left.
Frequently asked questions
- Do cloud kitchens need a walk-in cold room?
- Most small and medium cloud kitchens manage with reach-ins, undercounters and chest freezers, which fit tight spaces and can be moved. A walk-in starts to make sense when bulk deliveries and many brands push chilled stock well beyond what a few cabinets hold.
- How do I keep brands from mixing up stock?
- Give each brand its own labelled shelves or pans in the shared reach-in, and its own station undercounter. Colour-coded labels and lids help staff find items quickly with the door open for less time.
- How much prep can I hold ahead of the evening peak?
- As much as your food safety plan allows for each item and your station undercounters can hold at the right temperature. Size the station units for the prepared quantity of the peak window, typically the evening rush, and restock them from the bulk reach-in before it starts.
- Undercounters at every station or one big reach-in?
- Station undercounters cut walking and door-open time during peaks, which matters when orders arrive together. A single reach-in is cheaper per litre but becomes a queue point. Most cloud kitchens benefit from both: undercounters for service quantities, one reach-in for bulk.
