Grocery giant Kroger (KR  ) is teaming up with startup Kitchen United to enter into the growing, lucrative "ghost kitchens" market.

Ghost kitchens are a unique food service model that emphasizes delivery, cooking all orders exclusively to-go. The term first appeared in 2015, used by NBC to refer to restaurants that operated second, different brands dedicated to delivery. While the trend began among small business owners, it has since grown to include major brands; such as Bloomin' Brands' (BLMN  ) Tender Shack, which operates out of Outback Steakhouse kitchens, or Chili's (parent company Brinker Int'l, (EAT  )) Just Wings.

The sudden onset of the coronavirus pandemic saw a considerable surge in demand for takeout meals, with Kroger and its subsidiaries seeing a substantial uptick in sales of prepared foods as a result. With restaurant traffic picking back up due to easing pandemic restrictions, the inclusion of a ghost-kitchen business could be immensely beneficial for both firms, especially considering the ongoing growth in demand for takeout and delivery.

"Our work together provides participating restaurants access to millions of Kroger customers and the ability to better address off-premise demand in a convenient supermarket format - a frequent destination for most consumers," Kitchen United CEO Michael Montagano said in a press statement.

Kroger's investment into ghost kitchens follows the example of many others. Many hotels, facing drastically reduced traffic amid the pandemic, rented kitchen space to ghost kitchens. Many enterprising consumers also turned closed restaurants and their own homes into ghost kitchens, advertising on social media and using apps such as DoorDash (DASH  ). According to experts, however, this boom of ghost kitchens may be leading to oversaturation.

Kroger stock has spent much of the week flat, the company's announcement not doing much to motivate investors. Kroger shares were up 2.5% for the week on Friday.