Thanks so much for posting us @alexiskold Homemade is an easy way for people who love food to start sharing their gift with their networks and communities. We're interested in providing people a way to build a brand around their food in a low cost and easy way that takes advantage of the latent production spaces all around us. We are surrounded by lots of amazing cooks, both hobbyists and professionals, that are relegated to high-cost structures and an incredibly high-barrier industry. We allow them to come into our homes as caterers, cook other folks' menus at restaurants, and make low wages (20k a yr) when they're producing a high-value product. The real beauty and culture of food lies in the delicious meals individuals specialize in and have been passed through families and communities for generations.
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As someone who has considered and researched the making and selling of food from their home, I can tell you the health and safety regulations imposed by the health department are very strict. At least in California they are.
Having said that, because home kitchens aren't public places, I would imagine the health department can't do inspections at random to ensure they're in code- unlike traditional brick-n-mortar restaurants. They would have to schedule appointments in advance. In a similar sense, food trucks face the same issue because they are mobile and constantly on the move. That's not to say they're not in code all the time, but it would be very easy to clean up their act prior to inspections (pun intended).
TLDR: It's complicated
@aamerjomaa Definitely complicated. We hope to work toward a time when it is not as complicated, and people are able to buy and sell food safely.
Thanks for the thoughts!
Havent tried the app (I am not in the US), but conceptually I think its a great idea. For people like me, who have traveled for food and taste the local flavor, this could be great to be able to eat real homemade food from different ethnicities as well sitting in a big city. Of course there are restaurants doing the same, but there is surely a world of difference in home cooking and restaurant cooking. The only thing would be to ensure the quality of the cooks and there professionalism, hygiene etc.
@zingbhavya Totally, we think food is the best way to interact with other cultures. We've seen this happen quite a bit locally, but certainly even more true while traveling. Oftentimes the best restaurants, people walk away saying "that tastes just like home." Making sure food is prepared properly is incredibly important, and is a responsibility our cooks take incredibly seriously. It's our feeling that the current regulation is simultaneously prohibitive and poorly managed from a reactionary standpoint.
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I really like the videos on the site and the idea and execution is brilliant. @ndevane I think the community will regulate itself, so need to worry about the bad apples.
@shehaaz Thank you so much Shehaaz! I appreciate the kind words. The community definitely needs to be nurtured, but we are excited to watch it continue to grow and evolve.
@orliesaurus Totally understand how you feel. We are first focusing on home cooks selling to their own networks. The mental leap from going to a friend's dinner party ---> buying food from them is a lot smaller than stranger to stranger. Over time we hope to build trust with the every day consumer, but, as most marketplaces can attest to, that takes a long time and a lot of work.
Thanks for the feedback!
@ichaboddee I was working in London on the same idea and there were other players in the space but none of them 'succeeded' due to laws and regulations.
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I backed a startup in Canada looking to do this as I think it's a great idea. We failed because the local food hygiene laws that impacted every kitchen that produced food. However it appears there are other areas where it has been more successful: https://www.quora.com/What-compa...
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need this on android and in London, would love to test it, been telling my brother to start selling his cooking from his flat for ages now.
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