Restaurant culture has raised its profile in Helsinki, and the culinary-inclined are constantly on the hunt for new experiences and flavors. It is now easier than ever to open a restaurant, and new technologies offer fresh solutions and opportunities for the food and drink industry.

The strategy was to continue to employ successful service models. A flat-brokering service that does not own the properties, the world’s largest media outlet that does not produce its own content, and a transportation service that does not own the cars already exist. These services are all about freedom of choice. Thus, an idea of a space where customers could order in food from a wide range of restaurants and enjoy it in the company of their friends and family, was born.

A restaurant without a kitchen was set up on Keskuskatu in central Helsinki in January 2017. During the month-long experiment, customers ordered dishes to the space from nearby restaurants using the Wolt app. In addition, there was an in-house bar serving drinks to customers. The dishes were delivered to the Take In space without a delivery charge.

Delivery optimization is crucial when designing a takeaway service. At its best, the flavors of the dish develop new intensity during the delivery. American Express wanted to expand Wolt’s selection of restaurants further by challenging four fine dining restaurants to create their first deliverable gourmet dishes. The chefs of four popular fine-dining restaurants were given the task to make their interpretations of delivery-optimized dishes. These special dishes were only available when ordered to Take In.

Tier 1) One of the objectives of the concept was to create an innovative service concept to give a breath of fresh air for the Finnish diners in the middle of the coldest winter. Take In managed to reach over 400 million people internationally even though the project’s overall budget was only 155,000 euros. The calculated earned media value was, therefore, 20,000,000 euros. The striking numbers prove that the restaurant was something that customers had longed for without really knowing it. In addition, American Express strengthened its brand image among the target group.

Tier 3) Along with enhanced brand image, American Express aspired to acquire new customers from the target group. Therefore, they collected leads to support future customer acquisition during the concept. By doing that the company managed to increase their new customer acquisition numbers by 56% in January 2017 compared to the January numbers of 2016. American Express proved that a restaurant without a kitchen is a fresh step in the development of new service culture where consumers demand more freedom of choice.