Covid has been very unkind to restaurants but allowed one food service idea to flourish. Commercial kitchen rental, Karma Kitchen, was launched by sisters, Gini and Eccie Newton, with one kitchen in Hackney in London in 2019 and has since opened a second location in Wood Green. The purpose behind the business is to help food businesses grow and scale without being hampered by a lack of appropriate facilities which traditionally require significant investment to acquire.
Because the demand for food delivery soared during the pandemic, Karma Kitchen’s series A funding round in July 2020 ended up raised £252 million against a goal of just £3 million to expand its UK business. It intends to acquire, equip and manage dozens of kitchen sites across Europe. Karma Kitchen builds and runs workspaces that meet all the needs of delivery-only food and drink businesses, from kitchen porters and community managers to storage space and top-of-the-range equipment.
Droga5 London has created the business’ branding in keeping with the unconventional nature of the business itself and inspired by Karma Kitchen’s core values of community, creativity and collaboration. It playfully – and colourfully – conveys the idea of a vibrant commercial kitchen in the form of stylised line drawings of equipment like woks, frying pans and plates.
The branding assets were shot by photographer, Maisie Cousins, and have nothing to do with overly styled food porn, Instead they reference the visceral, messy business of cooking and eating, bringing the commercial kitchen to life in its most exciting and diverse way. The new identity can be seen on the Karma Kitchen website and social assets, and will also be featured in outdoor and digital campaigns designed to drive brand awareness and encourage people to book tours.
Gini Newton commented, “When Eccie and I co-founded Karma Kitchen we had the vision to become the leading commercial kitchen providers internationally while also creating a brand-focused business. We had an amazing creative team at Droga5 who helped come up with an identity and assets which reflect that vision brilliantly.”
Chris Chapman, head of art at Droga5 London, stated, “Our identity reflects not only the ingredients of a Karma Kitchen but also its communal start-up energy.”
The Newton sisters were inspired to start their enterprise after founding the lunch delivery company, Karma Cans, in 2014, which gave them an understanding of how important it is to get operations right along with the experience of building two commercial kitchens.
Delivery-only food businesses began emerging alongside services like Deliveroo and Uber Eats. During Covid-19 lockdowns, the new sector flourished, picking up some of the demand created by the closure of restaurants and serving the needs of consumers bored with their home cooking ruts and usual takeaways.
Credits:
Agency: Droga5 London
Creative Director: Chris Chapman
Graphic Designer: Millie Tyler
Animator: Rob Wickstead
Director of Art Production: Monika Andexlinger
Studio Manager: Tim Larke
Joint Managing Director: Rebecca Lewis
Account Director; Georgie Bowie
Chief Experience Officer: Grace Francis
Photographer: Maisie Cousins
Photography Agency: Concrete Rep
