6 Best Cloud Kitchens
in the UK and Europe in 2026

21 July 2026 | 6 Minute Read

Food brands looking to expand through delivery are no longer limited to their home market when it comes to finding a cloud kitchen provider. Across the UK and Europe, a handful of operators have built the infrastructure, technology, and networks that make delivery-first growth possible – each with a different focus, from AI-driven operations to multi-brand production efficiency.

This guide looks at six of the leading cloud kitchen operators across the UK and Europe, and what each one focuses on – from multi-brand platforms to straightforward kitchen space rental.

Chef preparing food in a commercial cloud kitchen

What to Look for in a Cloud Kitchen Provider

Cloud kitchen providers vary widely in how they operate – some lease fully fitted kitchen space, others run a brand's kitchen on their behalf, and some bring multiple established brands together under one roof. A few factors tend to matter most when comparing them:

  • Coverage and location density – how close the kitchens sit to real delivery demand

  • Contract flexibility – whether a business can start small and expand without being locked into long, rigid terms

  • Operational support – help with construction, licensing, staffing, or brand growth beyond just the physical space

  • Technology – tools for demand forecasting, multi-brand order management, or performance tracking

  • Scalability – the ability to add sites as order volume grows, ideally within the same relationship

With that framework in mind, here's what each of six leading cloud kitchen operators across the UK and Europe offers.

6 Leading Cloud Kitchen Operators in the UK and Europe

1. Encore Kitchens (UK)

Encore Kitchens runs the UK's biggest network of delivery-only kitchen space, with 550+ individual kitchens spread across 25+ locations in London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds, reaching an estimated 10 million people nationally. Tenants operating out of Encore's sites span major delivery-first names – Popeyes, Wingstop, Burger King, Byron, Haidilao, and Bronson's Burgers among them – each trading from a fully kitted-out unit rather than a bare shell.

Contract terms are built to scale alongside a business rather than lock it into one site: operators can add further kitchens across the network as order volume grows, all within the same account. Encore Kitchens also handles in-house construction for fitting out or adapting a kitchen, and offers marketing support for newer brands through Encore Social.

2. Cuyna (Spain)

Cuyna is a Madrid-based kitchen network offering two ways for restaurant brands to expand delivery reach without opening new sites themselves. Brands can rent one of Cuyna's fully equipped kitchens and run it with their own team, or hand the whole operation to Cuyna, which runs the brand's kitchen on its behalf – using the brand's own recipes and standards, its own kitchen staff, and its own technology – in exchange for a royalty per order. Cuyna currently runs 15 operational kitchen centres and around 90 delivery storefronts across Spain, working with brands including Krispy Kreme and Alfredo's.

3. Stiq AI (Greece)

Stiq AI is a Greek foodtech company that describes itself as the first AI-native fast-casual restaurant group, running 11 restaurant brands – a mix of dine-in stores and delivery-first concepts – across Greece and Cyprus. Its brands run on an in-house operating system called stiqOS, which the company says uses predictive AI to manage daily ordering, staff scheduling, and kitchen prep autonomously across its locations, with the stated aim of cutting food waste and keeping food and labour costs in check in real time. Stiq AI states it's among the first Greek startups to secure direct financing from the European Investment Bank.

Chef preparing a meal in a commercial kitchen for delivery orders

4. Glovo (Spain, Italy)

Glovo, the Barcelona-based delivery platform, runs cook rooms – delivery-only kitchen space equipped with custom-made kitchens, offered to restaurant partners across Spain and Italy. Under the model, Glovo provides the built-out kitchen space and on-site kitchen managers who coordinate incoming orders and couriers, while partner restaurants bring their own chefs, raw materials, and specific cooking equipment.

5. ProKitchens (France, Spain, and other European markets)

ProKitchens operates a network of delivery-optimised kitchen space across six European countries – France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, and the Netherlands. Its largest networks are in France and Spain, covering logistics hubs including Paris, Lyon, Madrid, and Barcelona, alongside flagship sites in Milan, Lisbon, Warsaw, and Amsterdam. Its sites are built ready-to-fit, with the core infrastructure – ventilation and extraction, gas points, and grease traps – already in place, so brands only need to bring their own cooking equipment. Contracts run on flexible terms rather than the standard long-form commercial lease common in markets like France, and ProKitchens handles facility management, including common-area cleaning and site security, as part of the offering.

6. Huuva (Finland)

Huuva runs multi-brand “food court” kitchens across Finland, bringing several established local restaurant brands together under one roof so customers can mix and match dishes from multiple brands in a single order. Its kitchens run on an in-house system, HuuvaOS, that manages orders and dispatch across brands, and each location integrates with major delivery platforms including Wolt and Foodora. Huuva operates 15 locations across Finland, spanning several Helsinki-area neighbourhoods as well as other cities including Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lahti, Oulu, and Pori, working with brands such as Green Hippo, Boneless, and Naughty BRGR.

Looking for a Cloud Kitchen in the UK?

Talk to the Encore Kitchens team about available locations and flexible expansion options.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • A cloud kitchen — also called a dark kitchen or ghost kitchen — is a commercial kitchen built to prepare food for delivery only, with no dine-in seating, storefront, or walk-in customers. Orders come in exclusively through delivery apps like Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat, or through a brand's own ordering channel, and the kitchen exists purely to cook and hand off food to couriers as fast as possible.

  • Independent operators like Encore Kitchens or Cuyna work outside of any single delivery app, so tenants and partner brands can list on Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat simultaneously. Platform-run kitchens, such as Glovo's Cook Rooms, are typically tied more closely to that platform's own ordering and delivery network.

  • Compare coverage in the areas you want to trade, how flexible the contract terms are, whether operational support is included, and how easily you can add sites as your business grows.

  • Yes – most cloud kitchen providers, including Encore, support multi-brand operations from a single kitchen, which is common among operators managing several virtual concepts.

  • Many do. Encore, for example, provides in-house construction support for fitting out kitchens and marketing support for newer brands through Encore Social, on top of the physical space itself.

  • Not exactly – models vary by country. Some operators lease kitchen space for a brand to run itself (Encore, ProKitchens), some operate a brand's kitchen on its behalf using the brand's own recipes (Cuyna), some bring several existing local restaurant brands together into one multi-brand kitchen (Huuva), and some are run directly by delivery platforms (Glovo).

  • This varies by concept and menu, but many operators offer both standard and larger kitchen units, so businesses can start small and move into a bigger space as order volume increases.

  • For UK-specific coverage, Encore Kitchens is the country's largest cloud kitchen operator, with over 550 kitchens spread across London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds, and enough network depth for a business to add further sites as it grows without switching providers.