Key takeaways
- Singapore’s cloud kitchen count has nearly halved. There were 18 cloud kitchen spaces across Singapore at the height of the pandemic in 2021; that had dropped to 11 by October 2024, with Grab and Deliveroo both shutting down their own dedicated cloud kitchens.
- Delivery commission is the single biggest margin killer. Bonchon Singapore’s director cited an example where roughly 40% of a S$10 fried chicken order — S$4 — went straight to the delivery platform, a key reason the chain exited the cloud kitchen model.
- There’s no single “cloud kitchen licence.” SFA licenses each subdivided unit inside a shared facility separately as a Food Shop; a facility that instead bulk-supplies food to other outlets needs a different licence — a Food Processing Establishment licence, the same category as a central kitchen.
- Not every operator is retreating. Smart City Kitchens — which runs Singapore’s CloudKitchens® sites and counts over 135 F&B brands as tenants — is opening a new Bedok II facility in Q2 2026.
- The delivery-platform landscape just shrank further. Deliveroo ended all Singapore operations on 4 March 2026 after 11 years, following DoorDash’s decision to wind the brand down in four markets — leaving GrabFood and foodpanda as the two major delivery platforms any cloud kitchen brand here can plug into.
The short answer: for a lot of operators, the sums stopped working once pandemic-era delivery demand faded. Singapore’s cloud kitchen count fell from around 18 in 2021 to 11 by October 2024, as delivery commissions of up to roughly 40% ate into already-thin margins and diners went back to eating out. But the model hasn’t collapsed — it’s just gotten more selective. At least one major facility operator is still opening new sites in 2026, and the businesses still in cloud kitchens tend to be the ones that went in with a clear-eyed view of what the commission bill, the rent, and the licensing actually look like. Whether it works for your business depends less on the format itself and more on whether your concept and cost structure can absorb what a delivery-only model actually costs.
What’s actually the difference between a cloud kitchen and a central kitchen?
They get used interchangeably in conversation, but Singapore Food Agency (SFA) treats them differently for licensing purposes. A cloud kitchen (also called a ghost or virtual kitchen) is a facility, usually subdivided into multiple small units, where delivery-only brands cook food that goes straight to consumers via GrabFood or foodpanda — no dine-in, no shopfront. SFA’s own licensing guidance is explicit that “for cloud kitchens, each subdivided unit must apply for its own licence” — the facility operator’s licence doesn’t automatically cover every tenant brand. A central kitchen is a different thing entirely: it doesn’t sell directly to consumers at all. SFA’s list of licensable food businesses names central kitchens as an example of a Food Processing Establishment — the licence required for businesses that manufacture, process, prepare or package food for distribution to wholesalers and retailers, alongside flour confectionery factories and noodle and pasta manufacturers — a manufacturing licence, not a retail one. A single delivery-only brand’s own cloud kitchen unit, by contrast, typically needs SFA’s Food Shop licence — the same retail category covering bakeries, coffee shops, restaurants, food courts, standalone kiosks and takeaway carts. If your business bulk-preps for wholesale or resale to other outlets, you’re in central-kitchen / Food Processing Establishment territory; if you’re running a single delivery-only consumer-facing brand out of a shared unit, you’re applying for your own Food Shop licence for that specific unit.
How many cloud kitchens are still operating in Singapore, and why did the number drop?
Fewer than half of what there once were. Per CNA’s reporting, Singapore had 18 cloud kitchen spaces at the height of the pandemic in 2021; that number had dropped to 11 by the time the article was published in October 2024, with food delivery platforms — including Grab and Deliveroo — shutting down their own dedicated cloud kitchen operations. CNA’s on-the-record examples point to the same underlying story: Bonchon Singapore’s director, Jefferson Tandanu, said the chain’s cloud kitchen profits dropped as customers went back to dining out and travelling, on top of high delivery commissions, and the brand decided to refocus on strengthening its existing operations rather than expand further via cloud kitchens. Separately, SGBrisketKitchen’s founder, one of the few female smoked-meat specialists in Singapore, told CNA she left her cloud kitchen space after a year and a half, citing fluctuating utility bills the operator wouldn’t explain and a lack of privacy from other tenants — she now runs her own dedicated space instead. Deloitte Southeast Asia’s consumer industry leader, Pua Wee Meng, told CNA that cloud kitchens operating on already-low margins are being squeezed by rising costs and labour shortages at the same time diners are doing more home cooking to manage food inflation, which Singapore’s Department of Statistics had put at 2.7% that August — on par with core inflation.
How much of my revenue actually goes to the delivery platform?
More than most operators expect going in, and it’s rarely a single published number. Neither GrabFood nor foodpanda publishes one fixed commission rate — rates are commercially negotiated per merchant and vary by plan, promotion tier and volume, so treat any generic “X% commission” figure you see online with caution unless it’s attributed to a specific, named deal. The clearest concrete example on the record is Bonchon Singapore’s: when it sold fried chicken for S$10 (US$7.60) through a delivery platform, about 40% — S$4 — went to the delivery company, per its director’s comments to CNA. That single data point is a useful gut check: before committing to a delivery-only concept, model your own numbers against a commission bite in that range, not against whatever percentage a vendor blog quotes, and ask your own prospective delivery partners for their actual proposed rate in writing before you sign a kitchen lease around it.
Do I need a special SFA licence to run a cloud kitchen in Singapore?
No — there isn’t a distinct “cloud kitchen licence” category. SFA fits cloud kitchens into its existing licensing framework, with one rule that catches operators off guard: SFA states directly that “if a licensee subleases the premises, in part or in whole, to other entities, the new operator must apply for a new licence,” and specifically that “for cloud kitchens, each subdivided unit must apply for its own licence.” In practice, that means the facility operator leasing you a 15–50 sqm cloud kitchen unit does not hold one blanket licence covering every tenant brand in the building — your brand needs its own Food Shop Licence for your specific unit, on top of whatever tenancy agreement you sign with the facility operator. If you’re instead running a shared facility that supplies food to other outlets rather than direct to consumers, you’d fall under the Food Processing Establishment licence category instead, alongside central kitchens. Before signing a cloud kitchen lease, confirm with the facility operator exactly which licence sits under your unit and whether they’ll support your own SFA application, rather than assuming their existing licence covers you.
Is the cloud kitchen model dead, or is anyone still expanding?
It’s contracting on average, but it isn’t dead — the picture is more selective than a flat decline. Smart City Kitchens, which operates Singapore’s CloudKitchens® sites and says it’s trusted by more than 135 F&B brands, is opening a new Bedok II facility in Q2 2026, offering flexible 15–50 sqm spaces on terms starting from 12 months (rather than the multi-year commitments a traditional shopfront lease typically demands) and running a sign-up promotion for agreements inked by August 2026. At the same time, the platform side of the equation just narrowed further: DoorDash confirmed it is winding down Deliveroo — which it acquired in October 2025 — in four markets including Singapore, and Deliveroo ceased all Singapore operations on 4 March 2026 after 11 years here. That leaves GrabFood and foodpanda as Singapore’s two major delivery platforms, which matters directly for cloud kitchen economics: fewer aggregators competing for your order volume generally means less leverage for merchants negotiating commission rates, not more.
Should my F&B business consider a cloud kitchen in 2026?
Model it against your own numbers before you sign anything, rather than against the pandemic-era hype or today’s decline narrative. A cloud kitchen can genuinely make sense if your concept has no real need for footfall or ambience, your menu already travels well in a delivery box, and you go in having priced a realistic commission bite — use Bonchon’s ~40% example as a stress-test, not foodpanda’s or GrabFood’s best-case pitch. It tends to work less well for concepts leaning on dine-in atmosphere or discovery-by-walking-past, which is exactly the segment CNA found returning to traditional premises as pandemic habits faded. If you do go delivery-only or run a hybrid model across a physical outlet plus a cloud kitchen unit, the operational risk shifts to reconciliation: you’re now tracking sales, commission deductions and inventory draw-down across two or three delivery apps and possibly a separate dine-in till, and doing that reconciliation manually is exactly where the SGBrisketKitchen-style billing disputes tend to start. A POS that consolidates order and inventory data across every channel you sell through is worth having in place before you take on a second lease, not after the first confusing invoice arrives.
Frequently asked questions
Is a “ghost kitchen” the same as a “central kitchen” in Singapore?
No. A ghost/cloud kitchen sells directly to consumers via delivery apps, with each subdivided unit typically needing its own Food Shop licence. A central kitchen doesn’t sell to consumers at all — it manufactures or preps food for distribution to wholesalers and retailers, and SFA licenses it as a Food Processing Establishment instead — a manufacturing category, not a retail one.
How many cloud kitchens are there in Singapore today?
Around 11, according to CNA’s October 2024 reporting — down from 18 at the height of the pandemic in 2021. The decline followed both Grab and Deliveroo shutting their own dedicated cloud kitchen operations, alongside individual F&B brands exiting as delivery demand fell.
Do I need a separate SFA licence for each brand in a shared cloud kitchen?
Yes. SFA states that for cloud kitchens, each subdivided unit must apply for its own licence — the facility operator’s own licence does not automatically extend to cover every tenant brand operating inside the building.
What’s the biggest cost risk in running a cloud kitchen?
Delivery commission. Bonchon Singapore’s director cited an example where roughly 40% of a S$10 order went to the delivery platform. Neither GrabFood nor foodpanda publishes one fixed rate, so get your specific proposed rate in writing before committing to a lease.
Is Deliveroo still an option for a cloud kitchen brand in Singapore?
No. Deliveroo ceased all Singapore operations on 4 March 2026 after 11 years in the market, as parent company DoorDash wound the brand down across four countries. GrabFood and foodpanda are now Singapore’s two major delivery platforms.
Are any cloud kitchen operators still expanding in Singapore?
Yes. Smart City Kitchens, which runs Singapore’s CloudKitchens® sites and counts over 135 F&B brands as tenants, is opening a new Bedok II facility in Q2 2026 with a sign-up promotion for agreements signed by August 2026.
