Close Ad

The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Arby's

Jimmy John’s Parent Company May Be Opening Its Own Ghost Kitchens

Inspire Brands, which owns Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s, and other restaurant chains, has filed for trademarks meant for ghost kitchens, according to Restaurant Business Online.

The company filed “Inspire Kitchen” and “Alliance Kitchen” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in January, and both filings mention “food delivery” and “delivery of food by restaurants.” The filings also name-drop ghost kitchens themselves, stating that the concepts will provide “restaurant services, namely providing ghost kitchens and commercial kitchens for use in the preparation of meals and beverages for consumption off premises.”

That Inspire is filing trademarks suggests the company is exploring not just ghost kitchens, but its own ghost kitchens. A growing number of restaurants now utilize the concept, which allows businesses to manage and fulfill delivery and takeout orders without overburdening in-house restaurant staff. To date, however, the vast majority of restaurants have teamed up with third-party providers like Zuul Kitchens, Kitchen United, and DoorDash Kitchens, who provide space, equipment, and other infrastructure to restaurants.

A smaller number of chains have launched their own ghost kitchens. Fat Brands, for example, is outfitting its own in-house kitchens to double as ghost kitchens. Starbucks teamed up with Alibaba’s Heme Supermarkets to operate ghost kitchens in China. 

Since Inspire Brands owns multiple brands, it’s not hard to imagine a setup where one single facility can house kitchens for Jimmy John’s, Arby’s, Sonic, and Inspire’s other restaurant chains. Throw in one of Middleby’s recently launched out-of-the-box ghost kitchen concepts, which helps companies build out and equip their facilities, and you’d basically have a self-sustaining ghost kitchen that doesn’t need a major third-party provider like Kitchen United or DoorDash to operate.

That’s rather speculative on my part, since Inspire told Restaurant Business Online that it was “not ready to comment” on the trademarks. However, more restaurants exploring ghost kitchens means we’ll see more approaches to the concept as it moves forward. The most scalable, economically feasible solution — whether that’s teaming up with a third-party kitchen provider, operating one’s own facility, or something else — is yet to be determined.

Arby’s Fires Up its Beefy Base, Says It Will Shun Plant-Based Meat

Sorry to all those flexitarians who had thought maybe they would finally get the chance to eat at Arby’s. Contrary to some earlier reports, Arby’s will not be serving the Impossible burger and will remain dedicated to having the meats.

The non-controversy flared up this week when two vegetarian–based news publications wrote that Arby’s had been in talks about creating a sandwich using Impossible’s plant-based burger. They both cited a story from The Information earlier this month, but evidently seeing the news in a veggie publication was enough to make Arby’s president, Rob Lynch, see heme-based red. In an article published by Fortune today, Lynch recounted his reaction after seeing that potential change in direction:

Lynch recalled his momentary panic after reading the misreport. “Please, please, please say it isn’t so!” he quickly queried colleagues, who reassured their boss no one was exploring plant-based options.

Both the initial reports and Lynch’s reaction are totally predictable.

Arby’s talking with Impossible would make total sense as there is an ever-growing list of QSRs adopting plant-based meat alternatives, including Burger King, Carl’s Jr., White Castle, Del Taco, Qdoba and more. They all see sales of plant-based meat booming and are moving quickly to cash in. In fact, Burger King went from testing the Impossible Whopper to deciding to roll it out to all locations nationwide in less than a month.

And, sadly, in this modern political age, it wasn’t surprising at all to see how Lynch responded. This is, after all, the same restaurant chain that created a special vegetarian menu by serving the same sandwiches, just without the meat (good one, bro). Lynch was just leaning into what’s driving the company and reaffirming Arby’s meat marriage. This notion that you can only be one thing, and anything else is a betrayal, is rampant in today’s public discourse.

It’s silly. And dumb. And ultimately doesn’t matter. Vegetarians and flexitarians will have plenty of other fast food options to spend their money, and Arby’s will always have its meats.