JustKitchen Expands B2B and D2C Offerings Through New Arrangements
TSXV: JK OTCQB: JKHCF FRA: 68Z
Workers and Consumers Now Have More Access to JustKitchen's Meals and Brands as the Company Broadens Both its Corporate Client Base and Convenience-Based Operations
VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 14, 2022 /CNW/ - Just Kitchen Holdings Corp. ("JustKitchen or the "Company") (TSXV: JK) (OTCQB: JKHCF) (FRA: 68Z), an operator of ghost kitchens specializing in the development of delivery-only food brands, announces a set of new business-to-business ("B2B") and direct-to-consumer ("D2C") commercial arrangements. Through the evolution of the ghost kitchen as "Direct Spoke", JustKitchen expects to enter new markets and neighborhoods with more of a multi-channel offering. The Direct Spoke concept serves B2B clients and makes food items available to retail customers on a D2C basis, while also continuing to work with delivery service providers ("DSPs") in the normal course of business.
The Company has opened a new Direct Spoke in the commercial kitchen of The Ho Hotel. It is a service apartment complex located in the hub of Hsinchu Science Park ("HSP"), close to the Tsinghua National University and Yang Ming National University. The Ho Hotel has 288 service apartments and 178 hotel rooms. Residents and guests are typically engineers, professors and businesspersons.
JustKitchen offers fresh meals to guests and prepares food for seminars and forums taking place at the hotel, while also aiming to distribute 200 fresh meals throughout HSP on a daily basis. The Ho Hotel is planned to be JustKitchen's major spoke on the west side of HSP, to not only provide various fresh meals to hotel guests and to HSP, but also to diversify food delivery options for residents in the surrounding neighbourhood.
JustKitchen's meals are now available at 13 7-Eleven convenience store locations in Taiwan. They are freshly produced and distributed daily from four JustKitchen ghost kitchens. Convenience stores in Taiwan are experiencing greater demand for ready-to-eat food, which the Company is keen to supply.
JustKitchen's brands are now also available on two new third-party platforms. First, the Inline booking management system ("Inline") is one of the largest reservation and table management systems in Taiwan. It added food delivery to its platform during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Inline is also approaching office buildings and building management committees to administer the offering of lunch meals to daytime workers, of which JustKitchen is one of its meal providers. Second, JustKitchen's products have been added to the Popgo platform, which is an innovative smart locker system for food deliveries in Taiwan.
"Over time, we have realized that B2B opportunities are very attractive for JustKitchen to pursue. They offer us the important chance to expand our consumer audience and be operationally efficient, while avoiding some major cost items and generating less waste. Therefore, it was essential to incorporate the B2B segment into our Direct Spoke model," said Jason Chen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of JustKitchen. "Expanding out D2C offering is also important to our ongoing evaluation as a company. Having these types of interactions with customers at The Ho Hotel, for example, is yet another way to diversify our revenue stream and gain feedback from the market to continuously improve our business," added Mr. Chen.
JustKitchen's B2B strategy has evolved significantly over the past year. Currently, its benefits can be categorized as follows:
- Corporate clients typically avoid the use of DSPs, therefore JustKitchen does not pay delivery commissions or incur marketing expenses;
- In the case of operating a location on a corporate client's premises, JustKitchen does not have to pay rent and utilities;
- Locations are privately run with corporate clients often subsidizing employee use of the B2B service, which boosts demand for JustKitchen's offerings;
- Hours of operation, specifically in B2B food courts, are usually during consumer lunch and dinner breaks, which increases labour and output efficiency due to simpler shift scheduling and more focused resource management, respectively; and
- Orders are often scheduled in fixed quantities, therefore, food preparation can be done in advance and prepared accordingly, which can limit food waste and otherwise improve resource management.
Most of JustKitchen's B2B arrangements feature customized menus that corporate clients offer daily to their employees or guests. This provides JustKitchen with the opportunity to optimize the use of cheaper ingredients, such as in-season fruits and vegetables or other cost-effective items available from time to time. This operating model also leads to a decrease in packaging costs since delivery is usually done in bulk, which means a reduced amount of paper bags, promotional materials, and utensils.
Just Kitchen Holdings Corp. (the "Company" or "Just Kitchen") is primarily an operator of ghost kitchens specializing in the development and marketing of proprietary and franchised delivery-only food brands for customers and businesses. The Company currently operates in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Malaysia. It has also signed an agreement that will allow JustKitchen to sell several of its proprietary food brands in Japan and it has also signed a brand swap agreement in India. Where appropriate, JustKitchen utilizes a hub-and-spoke operating model, which features advanced food preparation taking place at larger hub kitchens and final meal preparation taking place at smaller spoke kitchens located in areas with higher population densities. The Company combines this operating model with online and mobile application-based food ordering via its proprietary mobile food ordering app and other third-party ordering apps. Delivery is fulfilled by third-party delivery companies, to minimize capital investments and operating expenses and reach more customers in underserved markets. The Company's other business, JustMarket, is an e-commerce grocery delivery platform that allows customers to purchase groceries for delivery or add select grocery items to meals ordered through JustKitchen.
For more information about the Company, please visit investors.justkitchen.com. JustKitchen's final prospectus, financial statements and management's discussion and analysis, among other documents, are all available on the Company's profile page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "anticipates", "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed", "positioned" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur including but not limited to the Company's comments regarding entering into new markets and neighborhoods with more of a multi-channel offering; aiming to distribute 200 fresh meals throughout HSP on a daily basis; and planning for The Ho Hotel to be JustKitchen's major spoke on the east side of HSP, to not only provide various fresh meals to hotel guests and to HSP, but also to diversify food delivery options for residents in the surrounding neighbourhood. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks, including those risk factors identified in the Company's prospectus dated March 26, 2021, and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.
SOURCE Just Kitchen Holdings Corp.
Just Kitchen Holdings Corp., Suite 1430, 800 West Pender Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6C 2V6, Nick Kuzyk, Investor Relations, Toll-Free: 1-855-JST-KCHN (1-855-578-5246), Email: [email protected]
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