Interview with the founders of CoZine, the kitchen community in Lyon Villeurbanne, who chose DOOD for their digital platform.
Behind CoZine, it’s a family story: Sophie and Dimitri who imagined CoZine and were soon joined by their brother Alexandre. The three of them are rethinking the dark kitchen concept with their CoZine brand , a community of kitchens to help restaurateurs succeed. And what sets them apart from established international players is precisely this “accompaniment” that they advocate and imbue in every aspect of their offering.
As part of their project, they were looking for a digital solution to develop click and collect and offer a direct sales platform to their restaurant customers. They chose DOOD and our marketplace offering dedicated to dark kitchens, food courts and chain stores.
First of all, what is CoZine?
Cozine is a community of kitchens based on the dark kitchen model, but there’s nothing ghostly about it! Because in the brand’s 9 kitchens in Villeurbanne, these are real restaurateurs, with mature projects that the CoZine team supports on a daily basis like an incubator for the start-up nation. They define themselves as project gas pedals, “for entrepreneurs and restaurateurs to undertake projects with the right tools and support”.
Can you tell us how the Cozine project came about?
“CoZine is here to help and support restaurateurs who want to get into the digital restaurant business. The project originated with friends who had dreams of opening restaurants. But the barriers to entry are complex in terms of investment. The sector is codified, requiring the right tools and the right approach, with a high failure rate.” explains Dimitri.
“A year and a half ago, we saw the rise of dark kitchens and restaurants dedicated to delivery. And one figure stood out for us: 1 third of restaurateurs wanted to launch a dark kitchen. So we saw an opportunity, a real interest in supporting restaurateurs who wanted to launch!” he recalls.
But the more they think about the project, the more their ambition is to take a different stance from international players, a more humanized, less industrial approach. The CoZine positioning emerged: “My wife and I are both big coworking consumers,” says Dimitri. “We thought that bringing this notion of coworking, support and community work would make sense in this sector. So we came up with the idea of proposing a dark kicthen offering with more support and tools, a more versatile solution than what the American players were offering.”
How is the CoZine concept different?
“It’s important for us to be a versatile and agile structure: to be able to adapt to the marketing desires of each of our restaurateurs and address each one’s business, rather than trying to constrain with an overly rigid structure. We’re here to help restaurateurs succeed. And this translates into two key aspects of our offer: firstly, the location and the fact that at CoZine, each restaurant is open to the outside world through a drive-through window. We went to great lengths to eliminate runners, modifying the site plan so that each kitchen opens onto the outside. There’s also a 25-space parking lot to optimize click-and-collect. explains Dimitri.
Alexandre confirms, “For us, it’s important for restaurateurs to stay in touch with consumers.”
“The 2nd pillar of our positioning is the support and services we offer restaurateurs,” continues Dimitri. ” We immerse them in an ecosystem with an infrastructure of course, kitchens, but above all services, such as support with hygiene checks, and a packaged technology section. For example, Rushour is supplied with the CoZine offer, enabling them to be present on all platforms at the same time, with negotiated offers. The aim is to be as little dependent as possible on one platform or another, but on the contrary, to be able to be present on all marketing channels at the same time. To be as visible as possible, so as to control your own destiny. An approach perfectly shared by DOOD and CoZine.
Alexandre: “The aim is for restaurants to be self-sufficient. We help them open their kitchens and give them digital tips. They’re not used to digital, so having support on these subjects enables them to perform from the very first weeks of opening, which are crucial in digital catering.”
“DOOD came into being as a means of providing a direct sales platform, and in this approach to help restore sales and margins to restaurateurs, while further developing new uses. “
Alexandre
Why did you choose DOOD for the CoZine project?
CoZine enables restaurants to sell digitally by click and collect from their proprietary marketplace developed with DOOD, and by delivery from delivery platforms like Uber Eats and Deliveroo. The brand’s aim is to bring an additional powerful direct sales channel to restaurateurs, in addition to aggregators and delivery platforms.
Dimitri explains their approach ” Click and collect represents a real opportunity to preserve margins for the restaurateur, a key element in the success of a dark kitchen alongside volume. And even more, from a marketplace that CoZine makes available to restaurateurs thanks to DOOD, and which enables multi-restaurant ordering.
“So DOOD came into being as a way of having a direct sales platform, and as part of this approach to help restore sales and margins to restaurateurs, while developing even more new uses. DOOD was designed to enable us to further optimize click and collect, by controlling an entire marketplace from which we can build loyalty, boost our sales whenever we want, and gain in independence. Today, our restaurateurs are freer to multiply their marketing channels.
Alexandre adds: “What’s more, when it comes to consumers, we are sometimes faced with customers who ask us for a different kind of offer, without a platform to put them in touch with us, which is why it has become important to be able to offer a direct sales channel.”
“In less than 1 month, the DOOD proprietary channel already accounts for 20% of sales. We hoped to be at 10% after 3 months. “
Dimitri
And since the launch of your marketplace with DOOD, what are the results?
CoZine was launched in January 2022 and the DOOD marketplace in April.
“The results are very encouraging: in less than 1 month, the proprietary channel with DOOD already accounts for 20% of sales. We were hoping to be at 10% after 3 months. We’re very satisfied, and even surprised by the figures! We plan to step up our investment in this medium to create a sustainable, stable marketing channel for our restaurateurs.” Dimitri reveals.
“We’ve identified returning customers thanks to the figures available on the DOOD dashboard. “
Alexandre
Have you already identified a consumer loyalty rate?
“We’ve identified returning customers thanks to the figures available on the DOOD dashboard. In 1 month, we have customers who have already placed 6 orders. We want to reward customer loyalty,” says Dimitri.
Customer loyalty is a key issue in digital foodservice, as is online visibility and local referencing, both of which can be achieved using a proprietary platform.
What’s next for CoZine?
Dimitri: “CoZine Villeurbanne continues to grow and welcome new restaurateurs to expand our offering. We’ll have a 100m2 terrace at the end of June, accessible to all customers visiting the site, with QR codes on the tables that will allow you to order directly from our restaurants in just a few clicks. Eating in at CoZine is that easy!
And then develop their concept outside the Lyon region. “We’ve spotted premises in Marseille, which should enable a second community of restaurants to open by the end of 2022 and offer on-site consumption, delivery and click and collect.”
“Digital catering has a great future and is a source of opportunity, but it’s demanding, even more so than traditional catering. “
Alexandre
Any advice for restaurateurs looking to go digital?
Dimitri: “The big challenge in the restaurant business is to have a strong, authentic concept. There’s a plethora of products on offer, and you have to be able to stand out with a strong image and a strong product, immerse the consumer in your brand, and make it easy to understand so as to trigger a purchase.”
Alexandre: “To add to what I see in the field: you need to be agile, dynamic and responsive. The difference with a physical restaurant, where you can rely solely on your point of sale and concentrate solely on cooking and service, is that in digital catering, you need to have a marketing positioning, a differentiating brand identity. The project has to be thought through and matured. The most important thing in the digital sector is the beginning. If you don’t get off to a good start, it’s hard to get back on track. It’s not like in classical, where you can say to yourself, ‘I’m doing a card redesign and people will come back’.”
Dimitri: ” Digital catering has a great future and is a source of opportunities, but it’s demanding, even more so than traditional catering because there’s no longer any notion of location or storefront, all of that is carried over to digital and you need to be equipped from the start.”
And this is where Cozine’s positioning comes into its own: helping restaurateurs to succeed.