TORONTO — Wendy’s Restaurants of Canada is moving into the growing ghost-kitchen space through a partnership with REEF’s Neighborhood Kitchens in Toronto.
The company has characterized this move as the first of several to come, as ghost kitchens are an important component of Wendy’s non-traditional growth strategy. As the brand explores new avenues and formats to reach customers, REEF’s proximity-based network of delivery-only Neighborhood Kitchens enables Wendy’s to test a new format in dense downtown areas and address the evolving needs of today’s urban Canadian consumers.
“Building a brick-and-mortar restaurant in every neighbourhood across Toronto may not always be possible,” says Stephen Piacentini, vice-president, Global Restaurant Development and Recruiting at The Wendy’s Company. “By partnering with companies like REEF, we can bring Wendy’s into dense, urban areas without the overhead of operating a traditional restaurant space.”
With more than 100 Neighborhood Kitchens across more than 20 markets in North America, REEF empowers local restaurants and national brands to expand their delivery-service operations. The company’s mission is to connect the world to your block by transforming its distributed real-estate network of more than 4,500 parking lots and garages into Neighborhood Hubs.
“By providing access to our distributed real-estate network, REEF’s Neighborhood Kitchens enable restaurants to extend their delivery areas by providing proximity to their customers, while also reducing delivery times and giving them the ability to scale more quickly into new geographies,” says Carl Segal, Chief Operating Officer, REEF. “We’re thrilled to welcome Wendy’s Restaurants of Canada onto the REEF platform and look forward to bringing this beloved brand to more consumers in Toronto and across Canada.”
