Would you pay for someone to batch cook meals in your home?

[Ppppoppy]

Hello, just floating a question as it's a very new thought I've had (not seriously considering this as an all in, quit my job, start a business kind of thing haha, more just thinking out loud and curious what people think)
Cooking is my lifelong hobby/interest and I'm pretty good at it if I do say so myself. I've got varied and pretty extensive knowledge of food styles, recipes and prep, and lots of experience cooking for friends (usually family style, big dishes to share). I've also cooked for large group dinners in a b&b/hostel setting (this was a volunteer position but I learnt a lot about catering for bigger numbers there). I don't have professional chef experience but I have worked in F&B for 5 years so I've been around professional kitchens a lot, know how they run, processes, dietary stuff etc.
Wanted to ask if the idea of someone coming into your home for a few hours to meal prep for your family would appeal to you at all.
There's obviously a fair bit I'd need to sort before this could actually be a real thing, but here's roughly the shape of it in my head:

• I'd sort out hygiene certificates, insurance, etc, whatever's actually required to do this properly and safely (this one feels non negotiable to me tbh, letting someone into your home with your kids around, you'd want to know they're checked out)
• An initial call or chat first, talk through what you're after, how many people, how many meals, preferences, any dietary stuff, and specifically allergies and individual preferences likes and dislikes too
• Also chat through how involved you'd want to be, some people might want to pick the dishes themselves, others might just want to hand it over and be surprised, or anwhere in between
• You'd provide/ pay for the groceries, this could include using stuff you've already got in (only what you're happy for me to use obviously, not going through your cupboards uninvited lol) and then I'd put together an order for anything else needed. I'd do the actual ordering bit but always from your usual shop and sticking to your preferences on brands and budget and okay before it’s ordered etc
• I'd come at a time we'd agree in advance, could be while you’re in or out lit depending on what you wanted . I bring my own basic kit /appliances (knives , maybe frying pan / pot ) and seasonings if you'd rather I not use yours, then prep, cook, portion it all up and clean up properly after myself before I go
• Would want to talk about whether you're picturing freezer stash type meals, ready to eat that week, or a mix of both, probably depends on the person
• First session would basically be a trial for both of us really, see if it works, see if you like my cooking, see if it's not weird having someone in your kitchen haha

I do get that having a stranger cooking in your kitchen isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea and that's completely fair enough, just wondering if this is something anyone would actually want or if I'm being a bit mad haha
(also would maybe suit certain people more, new parents, people who've just had surgery or are recovering from something, elderly relatives, just busy families in general, so if you fall into one of those categories especially curious what you think)
Again very much just an idea floating around my head right now, not a proper plan yet!

Sorry but there are loads of precooked meal companies both the national companies and even small independents local to where I live (usually mothers making a bit of money, but the ones I know are Asian and Spanish, so their USP is regional cooking based on their nationality/culture). People don’t want them cooked in their own homes - but if you wanted to cook in your own home and provide meals on a preordered basis locally, you’d be better off doing your market research via a community Facebook page initially.

Yes and I was looking for someone to do this when I had a newborn and a toddler. Never found anyone! It’s really important to me to eat from scratch but it was so hard in those early days to fit everything in and I found cooking impossible at that time.
Now they’re older, possibly not although it depends how much it was and whether I had become used to the convenience!

Yes id love it. Wont eat ready meals & hate cooking now & then batch cook 3 at same time for freezing & its great. Cook do good stuff but expensive.
i saw a programme years ago on a west indies man cooking meals on wheels for old people privately & making a good living.
i think a good target market would be afterschool for teens where meal cooked some batch in freezer for working mums. You would need to have a dbs though, a trusted adult is reassuring when they are 13 & not home till 6.30.
plus you could do gluten free stuff etc.

My friend does this in our local area, nice simple homemade food for affordable prices. She is still getting her business off the ground, but i am sure there is a market. Prepared in her kitchen though.
Best of luck.

We like the Green Chef meal delivery boxes and if I was loaded I would happily pay OP to cook them for us and then do the washing up afterwards.

That would actually only be 1 hour of work a day though so probably not worth your your while even for say £20 an hour.

I second the r/HENRYUK suggestion.

I think for the target market there is also a secret appeal in having a "personal chef" rather than getting delivery of some frozen meals. You can get that from Cook if you want that. Personal chef feels like having staff!

You could also consider one-offs, I went to dinner at someone's house once and we were all complimenting him on the excellent food (all in his own dishes) and he sheepishly confessed all over dessert...

I see that you can’t do this from your own kitchen because of your living situation, but I’m with others who say I’d rather you weren’t in my house, cooking. If I wanted a service like this I’d rather you provided a list of meal options and I picked which one I wanted, you cooked them at home and then brought them round. Me having to go out and buy all the specific ingredients your recipes require also puts me off, I think I’d be more inclined to pay for this service if you provided the ingredients and included them in the cost.

I would love this and would be prepared to pay a good amount BUT only if you cooked it elsewhere and supplied the ingredients. It’s pointless if I have to the supply the ingredients as it’s not much more hassle to just cook it myself.

I’d love to be able to get a mix of fresh and frozen meals cooked from scratch to take the load off a few days a week but sadly this doesn’t seem to exist in my area.

I could see the value in this. I don't mind getting the shopping in and using all the ingredients, oils, spices etc I have and like so that wouldn't put me off. People love an app/hate talking to people so worth figuring out an easy way (could even be a Microsoft Form or something) to avoid the chat unless requested as that might be an initial hurdle for people as silly as it sounds (or is that just me 🤣). But someone coming in for a few hours to do this, particularly during the week while kids are in school or nursery and adults might be working from home sounds good. But as a PP said it would have to be people with spare cash, a full schedule but an interest in home cooked meals.

It could work but in the op it sounds very tedious and complicated so you would need to to simplify it. It sounds like you to chat a lot about things. I would rather fill in a form about all of those things.

I would also want you to have some meal suggestions for the week.

do you plan to make pre cooked meals or dump dinners or part cooked eg lasagne ready to bake? How do you envision this. and you can’t say I’d ask the client.

Help catering for an event may be better.

I'd love it (cost dependent) but if you get the ingredients. What would also be fab would be if you came to my house, looked at what I do/don't have, and then made meals using what I've already got. I'm sure I'm not the only one who ends up with random things used for one recipe and then not used again (and yes, I know I can Google recipes using xyz)

@D1nnerthymewe cross posted about the “chat”

No. If I were in the market for that I'd want the meals cooked elsewhere and delivered, not the hassle of someone taking up space and making a mess in my house. I appreciate that's not something you can offer at present though.

I’m similar to you op - not a pro cook but very competent and have a background in f&b (although have been office based for the last 10 yrs) and one of my colleagues actually proposed this to me once - well, making it at my home. I think there is a market for it - possibly single men who earn decent money and aren’t that adept at cooking so end up living off chicken and rice. They’d be my target market.

How much you are thinking of charging? This may influence whether people would consider using the service or not?

Also, what city are you based? How many miles would you be willing to travel? What if a person forgot to purchase a key ingredient so you had to go out to buy it/shops closed/out of stock? Would you still charge them?

Thankyou to everyone who’s responded so far ! . I know this is a very niche thing, knew that before I even posted this, and it's pretty clear from the comments so far too, but there's also been a few people saying they'd genuinely be up for it, which is what got me thinking more about it. Obviously there's meal prep delivery services already out there, but this would be different, more of a use up what you've already got kind of thing, so it also helps cut down on food waste rather than just delivering a load of new stuff on top of what's in your fridge. Kind of like a private chef service but not quite, more a couple of hours a week rather than someone living in your kitchen full time, personalised home cooked meals rather than fancy plated stuff, plus the food waste angle and other bits like that. I know I'm not a trained chef, said that already, but I'd hope the trial run is where I get to actually prove that side of things rather than needing a qualification to back it up. I also know a lot of people would probably prefer a prep and deliver style thing instead, where I cook in my own kitchen and just drop meals round to you, and I completely get the appeal of that, but it's not something I can offer right now (roommates, no proper space of my own) though it's something I'd love to do further down the line.

Have you researched meal prep businesses? What is your USP/rationale for doing it in clients homes? Well done on the entrepreneurial spirit.

I would love this.

I’d presume Frankie & Bennie’s as we’re discussing food, rather than decorating.

How much would you be charging? For £20 an hour I’d probably go for it if you could make say 4 days worth of meals for my family in 3 hours? It would be great if you could at least provide an ingredients list though of what I’d need.

Wrong again.

Food and Beverage

I assume food and beverage?

I'd have a chef if I could afford it or just eat out all the time.

Thankyou that’s interesting , I think to me I was thinking a phone chat just to ensure I got clear information / could ask/ answer questions for people who specifically wanted tailoring and were inclined to wanting that personal tough and direct communication . but maybe I’d provide I form upon contact as well as an optional ‘chat’ to suit different personality types . I’d defiantly have suggestions/ a few set plans / examples . My idea is that I’d make fully cooked / very nearly fully cooked dishes (e.g. only finishing is reheating )

The tailored service you’re suggesting is going to be quite an expensive way of doing things, particularly in relation to your time, as it lacks efficiency (which is where the bigger companies are able to reduce costs etc). So to make it worthwhile, you’d have to charge a premium - think about effectively your labour costs per hour (which wouldn’t just be how long you’re there cooking, it’d also be all the communication, shopping from the different supermarkets you mention - imagine if you had 3 clients in one day all wanting the same dishes, but one wants ingredients from Tesco, one from Waitrose and one from Aldi - you’d spend half your life in the shop), then the cost of the ingredients, overheads like insurance etc. So you’re likely to have to charge quite a high rate to make it worth it - and the problem with that is that if someone is paying a premium, they would potentially want you to have experience working as a chef, and potentially qualifications as well.

It’s good to do some research like this, but I think you really need to nail down your target
market, and then see if it’s worth investing in some training and working as a chef in a professional environment first.