Culinary brands used to be attached to the establishment. That is, the brand’s kitchen is in the restaurant, and food is prepared there only for that restaurant. For example McDonald’s kitchen only cooks food for McDonald’s itself, but not for Burger King. In order to increase profits, we need to build more points, i.e. more kitchens for one brand.
Now more and more virtual brands are being created – they’re not attached to an establishment. You can prepare food for different brands in one kitchen and sell it through online aggregators. Now you don’t need more kitchens to increase revenue – you need to create more brands for one kitchen. That’s what Sessions did.
Sessions encouraged all culinary enthusiasts to create such virtual brands. The idea is that enthusiasts focus on creating quality menus, and the company helps them develop and spread.
The startup’s mission is to help spread brands with quality cuisine, so that top culinary brands become popular not because of big money, but because of talented cooks.
«A brand should succeed because it’s got the best food – not the biggest bank balance»
How does it work? Firstly, Sessions suggest chefs join their platform, where they pass the selection process. Those who passed can now test their menus on real diners. The thing is, the founders have their own restaurant, which serves menus from different brands. That’s where the virtual brand creators prepare their food, offer it to diners, and get feedback. As a result of the testing, we get a sought-after and tech-savvy menu. If it’s successful, Sessions start spreading the brand.
They spread the brand through three channels: online aggregators, founder’s restaurant, where you can serve your menu there even after testing and other dark kitchens and physical restaurants. Sessions license brands to existing establishments and earns revenue for doing so.
Sessions also help with kitchen selection for new brands. They find a kitchen, evaluate its equipment, and suggest brands that can be cooked there at no extra cost. They also do a staff training day there and continue to technically support it.
The startup launched in 2019. Sessions now has 16 virtual brands created, they’ve partnered with 50 online and offline food outlets with those brands, and 1 million people have tried that food.
