Cloud kitchens have become a popular business model in the age of food delivery apps as one can prepare different types of cuisines from the same kitchen. However, a Reddit user raised the issue of hygiene and cleanliness when it comes to cloud kitchens as he shared photos showing a Bengaluru cloud kitchen in disarray. The Reddit user named dozing_dog claimed that he worked part-time for a food delivery platform. He claimed in the Reddit post that he saw a man putting a piece of momo back into the steamer after it fell on the dirtiest floor that he had ever seen. He also shared three photos in the post showing the unhygienic conditions in the cloud kitchen. Another user in the comments pointed out that the cloud kitchen seemed to be Kouzina that operates different brands. Kouzina Food Tech has brands like Warm Oven, Kaati Zone, Indiana Burgers, Cupcake Bliss, Slurpy Shakes, Dessert Zone, Biryani Zone and Momo Zone among others. Mahesh Madiyala, founder and chief operating officer of Kouzina Food Tech, when contacted did not refute that the first photo is from their cloud kitchen in Bengaluru. He blamed that it was an elaborate scheme to discredit the company by a disgruntled former employee who was sacked for malpractices. “We operate cloud kitchens all over India and in Bengaluru we have 16 branches. This photo is from our cloud kitchen located in Electronic City. However, the photos seem to be manipulated to show us in poor light. This seems to be the handiwork of a former employee, a hotel management graduate, who seems well versed with Reddit,” he said. Madiyala said Kouzina has been running for 10 years now and all their cloud kitchens have an FSSAI license. “I challenge you to check out any of our cloud kitchen and see the working conditions for yourself. We believe in hygiene and regularly conduct internal audits.” He also claimed that though they own multiple brands, they don’t make more than two to three cuisines in a single cloud kitchen. The Reddit post made five days ago, however, has garnered a lot of attention. “Food regulation department is a joke in India. These people need to be fined heavily and probably jailed for intentionally harming their customers,” commented a Reddit user. “I usually only order from places I have been to physically. I once had a very bad experience with Mojo Pizza, they had sent me undercooked and foul smelling food and when I tried to find the place in google maps. All I could see was a kitchen like this,” shared another. “What makes you think restaurant kitchens are any different? If you care about hygeine, you wouldn’t eat at most restaurants,” another user expressed.
