Walmart To Open Five Ghost Kitchens In Canada

Ghost Kitchen Brands (GKB) has teamed up with Walmart Canada to bring one-stop meal pickup and delivery to consumers, according to a press release.

The first Ghost Kitchen at Walmart is open currently in the St. Catherine’s Walmart. There are other locations planned at Toronto, Woodstock, Lachenaie and Saint-Constant, the release stated.

“Walmart Canada is a perfect strategic partner for us as we continue to innovate and reinvent the restaurant industry with our unique restaurant concept,” said GKB Founder and CEO George Kottas in the release. “We are both one-stop shops and we recognize the value in affordable, convenient solutions for our customers.”

The concept for GKB remains the same. Customers can order freshly prepared meals in-store and online, for contactless pickup or delivery from third-party apps like Uber Eats, according to the release. They can mix and match from 20 brands like Quiznos, The Cheesecake Factory Bakery, Pepe’s Perogies, Rocky’s Italian, Canadian Jerk, Slush Puppie, Monster Cupcakes, Saladworks, Beyond Meat, Amaya Indian Street Food, Taco del Mar, Lola’s Latin Food, Tazo, Red Bull, Crêpe Delicious, Nescafé and Ben & Jerry’s, with more to be added.

Canadian consumers, like others in the world since the pandemic hit, have been looking for integrations of restaurants with frictionless. Sam Hamam, senior director of Licensees at Walmart Canada, said in the release that the company is “always looking at ways to improve our customer shopping experience with greater access to affordable products, services and brands.”

Walmart has also worked with Eko on an expanded Cookshop partnership, referring to the shoppable recipe videos that feature brand collaborations and celebrity cameos, PYMNTS reported. The partnership is one that strives to expand technology use to help with eCommerce, the release stated.

The Cookshop videos tend to go beyond most grocery store branded recipe videos, with better quality content and more interactive features.