This paper outlines the transformative potential of cloud kitchens, or “dark kitchens,” emphasising their role in reshaping contemporary urban food systems, and labour practices. It asks: what if these cloud kitchens transitioned from profit-driven enterprises to community infrastructure?

Local governments and communities, the report suggests, have a unique opportunity to reclaim these spaces and reframe them as tools for social and economic transformation.

• Cloud kitchens represent a hybrid of physical and digital food service operations, driven by the growth of online food delivery, which surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 750 cloud kitchen sites were operating in the UK by 2021, supported by advanced data analytics and operating within regulatory gray areas.

• While cloud kitchens have sparked significant controversy—ranging from critiques of exploitative working conditions to concerns about their impersonal and disruptive nature—the reality is far more nuanced.

• Beyond their labour implications, cloud kitchens challenge cultural norms around food. What if these cloud kitchens transitioned from profit-driven enterprises to community infrastructure?

• Local governments and communities have a unique opportunity to reclaim these spaces and reframe them as tools for social and economic transformation. By establishing cooperative ownership models or public oversight, cloud kitchens could evolve into hubs of local food production and innovation, addressing challenges like food insecurity, economic inequality, and social fragmentation.

• Instead of viewing cloud kitchens as either purely utilitarian or inherently problematic, we should embrace their potential to reshape urban food systems in ways that are equitable, sustainable, and community-centred.

• With thoughtful policy, cooperative frameworks, and intentional design, these spaces could become vibrant nodes of innovation and resilience—benefiting workers, communities, and local economies alike.

• This report offers blueprints for new municipal cloud kitchens, to offer new infrastructure for workers, business and community.