Dark Kitchen and Marketplaces in the Oven: Paths and Challenges to Growth for Palatos/Dark Kitchen e Marketplaces no Forno: Caminhos e Desafios para o Crescimento da Palatos

Palatos, a small chain of bakeries located in the southern region of Rio de Janeiro, is the fruit of Flavio's entrepreneurial dream, and is a regional benchmark in the bakery sector, with three units and thousands of customers served every day. In its growth challenges, one dilemma stands out, the continued growth of its delivery operation, also based on decisions that may or may not involve its entry into the Dark Kitchen model and the adoption of marketplaces. The students are then invited to put themselves in Flavio's position and his team and make a strategic decision for Palatos. The information on this teaching case was obtained from private documents, interviews and secondary market data. The case contributes by encouraging reflection on current topics that are relevant to the out-of-home food sector and applicable to other sectors and organizational types. The aim is to discuss the opportunities and challenges faced by businesses in gaining competitiveness, based on business strategy concepts and tools, such as the VRIO model and the GUT matrix. Keywords: business strategy; VRIO model; GUT matrix; bakery markets; small enterprises; dark kitchen; marketplaces. A Palatos, pequena rede de panificadoras situada na regiao Sul Fluminense, e fruto do sonho empreendedor de Flavio, e e referencia regional no ramo da panificacao, diante de suas tres unidades e do atendimento diario para milhares de clientes. Em seus desafios de crescimento, um dilema se destaca, o da continuidade do crescimento de sua operacao de delivery, tambem a partir de decisoes que podem ou nao envolver sua entrada no modelo de Dark Kitchen e adocao de marketplaces. Os alunos sao, entao, convidados a colocar-se no lugar de Flavio e de sua equipe, e a tomar uma decisao estrategica para a Palatos. As informacoes desse caso de ensino foram obtidas a partir de documentos privados, entrevistas e dados secundarios de mercado. O caso contribui ao fomentar reflexoes sobre topicos atuais e relevantes ao setor de alimentacao fora do lar, aplicaveis a outros setores e tipos organizacionais. Objetiva discutir as oportunidades e desafios enfrentados pelo negocio para seu ganho de competitividade com base em conceitos e ferramentas de estrategia empresarial, como o modelo VRIO e a matriz GUT. Palavras-Chave: estrategia empresarial; modelo VRIO; matriz GUT; mercado de panificacao; pequenas empresas; dark kitchen; marketplaces.