The concept of Casper, co-founded by Matthias Laga, is based on the idea of virtual restaurants more commonly referred to in English as a ghost kitchen. The establishment only has a kitchen, where a team of staff work to meet the orders of 10 virtual restaurants with different styles. The various dishes are then delivered. Casper claims to have a zero waste policy and strives to work with local suppliers. The company also promises a meal delivered in 30 minutes (or to go). In Belgium, the chain works with platforms such as JustEat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats.

The company has high ambitions after raising €5m in a round of financing led by Slingshot Ventures (a venture capital fund based in Amsterdam). 

Casper is very popular with young people in Belgium and has seven ghost kitchens (in Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven, Liège and two in Brussels). In 2021, Casper saw its turnover increase by 210%, with more than 230,000 dishes prepared. More than just a trend, a Euromonitor study predicts that the global ready meal delivery market will be worth $1,000bn by 2030.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.