The next evolution of the restaurant industry has arrived. On this episode of the new Ghost Kitchen Trends podcast, host Paul Barron sits down with Geoff Alexander, the president and chief executive officer of Wow Bao, to explore what it takes to launch and scale a virtual brand.

Wow Bao is a popular Asian fast casual joint that has ventured into the dark kitchen space. The chain provides participating kitchens and restaurants with a starter kit for steaming, cooking, and selling their menu items via third party delivery companies. The kit includes on-boarding and training materials, as well as all necessary equipment. Restaurants only have to provide some freezer storage and three feet of kitchen space.

“We’ve all learned how important delivery is,” says Alexander, alluding to the pandemic. “As we continue to grow and the labor market gets tighter, those who are embracing and keeping delivery more virtual during our business comeback are going to be the most successful. I encourage people to make it a business.”

To partner with Wow Bao, restaurant operators do not need to hire additional labor—all employees need to do is steam the product. Most other virtual brands require minimum prep work. For Alexander, automation technology isn’t the future of restaurants.

“Technology helps the operator with aggregating all the POS and the orders coming in and the flow-through,” adds Alexander. “Otherwise, tech will help with delivery, but that’s not really on the operator… what is Doordash [and other third party companies] going to come up with to make life better for operators? That’s going to be the real key to watch.”

Listen to the episode to hear Alexander’s advice for operators, and make sure to check out the first two episodes of the podcast here!