TikTok and Virtual Dining Concepts are partnering to launch TikTok Kitchens. The new delivery-only service will cook up some of the trendiest TikTokers’ dishes first reported by Bloomberg. TikTok and VDC will reportedly open around 300 locations across the US to start but plan on expanding to around 1,000 by the end of 2022.
TikTok Kitchen operates out of existing restaurants, including chains owned by VDC co-founders Robert Earl, such as Buca di Beppo and Bertucci’s. The company provides a ghost kitchen service. Unlike some of the companies in this niche, it doesn’t appear to operate from a satellite, trailer-converted kitchen in a parking lot. It uses the existing kitchen and employs the restaurant’s existing staff. As the company’s description of the service notes, TikTok Kitchens will make use of the restaurant’s existing kitchen and employ the restaurant’s existing staff but will provide the training, food packaging, and recipes.
TikTok Kitchens: The menu will be refreshed periodically
As viral content continues to surge in popularity on the platform, it will be refreshed periodically, giving users access to new creations that are trending. The menu will initially feature a viral baked feta pasta, corn ribs, cheese-covered pasta chips, and the smash burger. The people who helped inspire those dishes will be eligible for a portion of the proceeds.
“Creators will be receiving credit for dishes within the menu and will be featured prominently throughout [the] promotion,” said TikTok spokesperson Elena Saavedra in a statement to The Verge. “To be clear, this is a campaign to bring TikTok foods to fans, not a venture into the restaurant business.”
MrBeast Burgers has already seen success with his original virtual kitchen MrBeast Burger. He sold one million burgers in just three months, and now there are over 1,500 virtual kitchens across the US, Canada, and the UK.
