{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T16:58:14Z","timestamp":1790960294964,"version":"4.1.0"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.3310\/nihropenres.13735.1","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,10]],"date-time":"2025-03-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1741564800000}}],"reference-count":18,"publisher":"National Institute for Health and Care Research","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,10]],"date-time":"2025-03-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1741564800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000272","name":"National Institute for Health and Care Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NIHR160326"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NIHR160326"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000272","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["openresearch.nihr.ac.uk"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["NIHR Open Res"],"abstract":"<ns3:p>Background Dark kitchens \u2013 delivery-only food outlets operating through digital technology platforms \u2013 are a contemporary addition to the food environment. Some concerns have been raised around the ability for local authorities to identify and regulate these businesses, with growing concern around the nutritional quality of foods, food safety practices and impact on the local food environment. The present work explores consumer understanding of and engagement with dark kitchen and traditional takeaway establishments. Methods Healthy adults living in the United Kingdom completed an online survey comprising of questions measuring demographics, engagement with takeaways and dark kitchens, purchasing behaviours and decision making, and knowledge and understanding around dark kitchens. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results In total, 2,023 participants (46.3 \u00b1 16.7 years) completed the survey. Forty percent purchased a takeaway at least weekly, often through aggregator applications (e.g., Just Eat, Deliveroo). Food was mainly purchased as a treat (79.3%), for enjoyment of the food or taste (60.8%) and for convenience (58.2%). When ordering, consumers considered the taste (88.1%), quality (83.5%), value for money (77.8%), and familiarity with (68.1%) and reputation of the business (60.0%). Only 24.7% of participants had heard of dark kitchens and 9.1% had knowingly purchased from one. After reading a working definition, 54.9% said they would purchase from a dark kitchen, but most would want to know explicitly that they were ordering from these businesses. A major concern when purchasing food from a dark kitchen or takeaway outlet was trust in the food safety and hygiene standards. Conclusion Consumers are unfamiliar with dark kitchens and are not aware of or confident in identifying these businesses. This confusion and concerns around food safety mean dark kitchens are often viewed negatively. Consumers would prefer more transparency in where their foods are being prepared to allow for more informed decision-making.<\/ns3:p>","DOI":"10.3310\/nihropenres.13735.2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,10]],"date-time":"2025-03-10T08:55:06Z","timestamp":1741596906000},"page":"64","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3310\/nihropenres.crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Consumer knowledge of and engagement with traditional takeaway and dark kitchen food outlets"],"prefix":"10.3310","volume":"4","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2072-6602","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lucie","family":"Nield","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Helen","family":"Martin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0111-1178","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Claire","family":"Wall","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jo","family":"Pearce","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rachel","family":"Rundle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5935-8187","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simon","family":"Bowles","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Harness","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9861-3379","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jordan D.","family":"Beaumont","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"6221","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref-2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhm.2021.103110","article-title":"Ghost kitchens on the rise: effects of knowledge and perceived benefit-risk on customers\u2019 behavioral intentions.","volume":"101","author":"R Cai","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int J Hosp Manag."},{"key":"ref-3","article-title":"Trust 'undermined' by food delivery firms over hygiene","author":"A Crawford","year":"2019"},{"key":"ref-4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"301-307","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tifs.2022.01.005","article-title":"Food services in times of uncertainty: remodeling operations, changing trends, and looking into perspectives after the COVID-19 pandemic.","volume":"120","author":"T de Souza","year":"2022","journal-title":"Trends Food Sci Technol."},{"key":"ref-5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"218-232","DOI":"10.1108\/IJIS-10-2020-0184","article-title":"Online food delivery portals during COVID-19 times: an analysis of changing consumer behavior and expectations.","volume":"13","author":"D Dsouza","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Innovat Sci."},{"key":"ref-6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3789","DOI":"10.3390\/nu13113789","article-title":"Digital food retail: public health opportunities.","volume":"13","author":"M Fernandez","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nutrients."},{"key":"ref-7","article-title":"Food in the digital platform economy \u2013 making sense of a dynamic ecosystem","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref-15","article-title":"Food and You 2: Wave 8","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref-8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodres.2022.111768","article-title":"What is a dark kitchen? A study of consumer's perceptions of deliver-only restaurants using food delivery apps in Brazil.","volume":"161","author":"M Hakim","year":"2022","journal-title":"Food Res Int."},{"key":"ref-9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/41822","article-title":"Changes in online food access during the COVID-19 pandemic and associations with deprivation: longitudinal analysis.","volume":"9","author":"M Keeble","year":"2023","journal-title":"JMIR Public Health Surveill."},{"key":"ref-10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5190","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17145190","article-title":"Use of online food delivery services to order food prepared away-from-home and associated sociodemographic characteristics: a cross-sectional, multi-country analysis.","volume":"17","author":"M Keeble","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health."},{"key":"ref-11","article-title":"Consumers want transparency in the food supply chain","author":"M Moralez","year":"2019"},{"key":"ref-16","article-title":"Living costs and food survey","year":"2017"},{"key":"ref-17","article-title":"Census 2021","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref-18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1859-1879","DOI":"10.1108\/IJCHM-03-2022-0310","article-title":"Consumer attitudes toward ordering from cloud kitchens: a gender and marital status perspective.","volume":"35","author":"S Pookulangara","year":"2023","journal-title":"International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management."},{"key":"ref-12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5523","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph19095523","article-title":"Understanding the online environment for the delivery of food, alcohol and tobacco: an exploratory analysis of 'dark kitchens' and Rapid Grocery Delivery Services.","volume":"19","author":"C Rinaldi","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health."},{"key":"ref-13","article-title":"Cloud kitchen market size worldwide 2021","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref-14","article-title":"Cloud kitchen market size worldwide in 2022, with a forecast for 2032","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref-19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-08-100596-5.03336-9","article-title":"Food quality, storage, and transport","author":"D Tanner","year":"2016"}],"container-title":["NIHR Open Research"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/openresearch.nihr.ac.uk\/articles\/4-64\/v2\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/openresearch.nihr.ac.uk\/articles\/4-64\/v2\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/openresearch.nihr.ac.uk\/articles\/4-64\/v2\/iparadigms","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,18]],"date-time":"2025-03-18T03:45:18Z","timestamp":1742269518000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/openresearch.nihr.ac.uk\/articles\/4-64\/v2"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,10]]},"references-count":18,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3310\/nihropenres.13735.2","relation":{"has-version":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.3310\/nihropenres.13735.1","asserted-by":"subject"}],"has-review":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.3310\/nihropenres.15095.r34896","asserted-by":"subject"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.3310\/nihropenres.15095.r34896","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["2633-4402"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2633-4402","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,10]]},"assertion":[{"value":"Indexed","URL":"https:\/\/openresearch.nihr.ac.uk\/articles\/4-64\/v2#article-reports","order":0,"name":"referee-status","label":"Referee status","group":{"name":"current-referee-status","label":"Current Referee Status"}},{"value":"10.3310\/nihropenres.15095.r34896, Jean Adams, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, 18 Mar 2025, version 2, indexed","URL":"https:\/\/openresearch.nihr.ac.uk\/articles\/4-64\/v2#referee-response-34896","order":0,"name":"referee-response-34896","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"10.3310\/nihropenres.14917.r33549, Purvi Mathur, The ICFAI University, Jaipur, 22 Nov 2024, version 1, 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations","URL":"https:\/\/openresearch.nihr.ac.uk\/articles\/4-64\/v1#referee-response-33549","order":1,"name":"referee-response-33549","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"<b>Jordan Beaumont<\/b>; \n<i>Posted: 06 Feb 2025<\/i>; \n<b>Reviewer Comment: <\/b>Theory need to be included. For instance the theory of consumption value is find to be appropriate for the study.  \n<b>Author Response: <\/b>While the theory of consumption value provides a useful framework to understand the reasons behind consumer choice, this was not considered when designing the study. Instead, we focussed on an exploratory approach. The data from our studies does not align well with this theory, and it feels erroneous to restructure the study around such theory. ---------------------------  \n<b>Reviewer Comment: <\/b>Add more current references as the topic is more prominent and lots of study is already undergoing or done.  \n<b>Author Response: <\/b>While we acknowledge the relative contemporary nature of this research, we believe the articles cited are up-to-date and published within the last 4 years. There is a lack of appropriate evidence when considering consumer engagement within a UK context (hence conducting our study), and while there are some studies from a global perspective, the local food environment is an important factor in this study. ---------------------------  \n<b>Reviewer Comment: <\/b>Advice to refer a research paper related to your field on the Emerald Insight on&nbsp; International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management titled as Consumer attitudes toward ordering from cloud kitchens: a gender and marital status perspective  \n<b>Author Response: <\/b>We have now cited this work in the introduction, which now reads:  \u201cWhile there is some evidence on consumer attitudes towards dark kitchens (e.g., Pookulangara et al. (2023)),&nbsp; there is limited understanding of consumer awareness of dark kitchens and how the dark kitchen sector influences consumer decision making and purchase behaviours.\u201d","URL":"https:\/\/openresearch.nihr.ac.uk\/articles\/4-64\/v2#referee-comment-3416","order":2,"name":"referee-comment-3416","label":"Referee Comment","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"This project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) under an Application Development Award (Grant Reference Number NIHR160326) The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.","order":3,"name":"grant-information","label":"Grant Information"},{"value":"This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.","order":0,"name":"copyright-info","label":"Copyright"}]}}