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!

Let’s say I wanted this service and paid you £75 for 3 hours to prep, cook, cool, freeze a batch recipe and clear down the kitchen, plus the cost of ingredients and, unless I want to eat the same meal for the next 3 days, I still need to go shopping as my fridge is now empty of fresh ingredients…..I could have bought 7 x COOK meals for the same price!! It’s just not a business model that makes sense to me at all. I’d pay a private chef to cook in my kitchen for a special occasion but I don’t think anyone who could afford the service you’re considering would want it, not least because a good home cook is not a chef!!! (I am the former - definitely not the latter)

I’d definitely pay for batch cooked delivered meals, but I wouldn’t want them being cooked in my kitchen.

@IAmTooOldFor you raise a fair point so not arguing with you (and this whole thread is actually really useful to me, still very much just an idea rattling round my head at this stage so I like people poking holes in it, that's sort of why I posted really.) but…
for one person yeah I take the point, maths is a tough sell there, can't really argue with that bit. but I don't think that means literally no individual would ever want it, some might still fancy it for the personalisation or allergies or just liking the idea even if it's not the cheapest option going
it's more once you're not cooking for just one though that it gets more interesting imo. so say £25 an hour, 3 hour session, £75 labour, plus groceries on top of that. for one person that works out around £13 a meal once you add it all up so yeah COOK wins hands down there. but for a couple that's more like £7-8 each per meal, and for a family of 4 it drops to about £4-5 a head, because my time costs the same whether it's 1 person or 4, it's really just the groceries that go up not the labour bit. so the bigger the household the less the "just buy COOK" argument actually holds up tbh
and there's been a few people on here who've said they'd actually be up for this so I don't think it's fair to say no one who could afford it would want it, cause clearly some would
On the chef thing, sure, a home cook isn't technically a chef, fair enough! But I'm not sure that title alone tells you much about whether the food's actually any good. With all due respect you haven't tasted my cooking, and I'm not sitting here saying I'm on the level of some Michelin trained genius, but I'd happily back myself against plenty of the chefs I've worked alongside over the years. Not blind cockiness, just years of genuinely putting in a huge amount of time and effort learning . I know not having the title might deter some from giving it a go , but I’d hope there might be others who might give it a chance . I appreciate your input nonetheless ☺️

I like your optimism and would be interested to see how it works out for you but it’s not a business model I’d invest in - and I do invest in small businesses so know a little about assessing which ones are likely to succeed!

As for the COOK comparison, £15 is an adult meal for 2 - both ingredients and labour. The volume of food my averagely big oven could churn out in under 3 hours, and my (2) freezers could then store is not enough to make it worth me paying £75 for someone else to do. Particularly given that I would have 1, or maximum 2, different meals to choose from.

On reflection though I think my main reason for not personally wanting this service would be that I already batch cook, and personalise my recipes to suit the various tastes/medical needs of my family and I don’t think anyone could do it better than me 😄

A few of us have suggested renting commercial kitchen space, is that an option in your area? Don’t think I’ve seen you reply about that, sorry if I’ve missed it.

I think we might use it especially if I have the extended family visiting (multiple different dietary restrictions, so it gets very complicated) but I’d still prefer somebody cooking elsewhere and bringing the prepped food to me!

My friend does this. She has a lovely lady who pops round once a fortnight to stock up her freezer with yummy Indian food. Cracking idea!

I’ve actually been thinking about this since I read it, I would be more likely to pay for this before I’d pay for a cleaner!

I have quite a large freezer so could probably take a fair number of meals. When the kids were younger, and we were skint, we used to make dump meals (you put them in slow cooker from cold). We would attack it one night and do loads so I suppose it depends how many meals you feel you could make in a shortish period to make it financially doable

Can I be a bit cheeky and ask if you can realistically afford it though? It sounds as though you don’t currently pay for a cleaner (£15 p/h), could you afford a regular £25 p/h + ingredients (which as we all know are not cheap) for this meal service? I ask because the OP has responded to a few comments sounding quite heartened that c5 ppl on this thread have said they would sign up to her idea. IME it’s one thing to like an idea but another thing entirely, when it’s a real prospect, to actually part with £100 of hard earned cash for something you could do yourself for £25.

I could afford it, but it’s not a service here. what I’m saying is this is a service I’d prioritise over a cleaner whereas some people would prioritise a cleaner over this?
saying you’d pay £100 for something you could do yourself for £25 is the same as saying you’re paying a cleaner £25ph (average cost here) for at least what 3 hours a week for something you could do yourself for free.
whereas I’d be thinking this would be more a fortnightly thing.
The OP is doing market research however and sounds to me that they’re aware this is niche - as is evident in the thread that people who would want this are in a minority.
boils down to different needs and wants I suppose as with any business venture

I would use this. In fact if you're in London I'll be your first customer!

I don't like ready meals, and it is important to me the family eat healthy meals. But in busy mid week this mainly means dinner is a very boring rotation of some meat + quickly prepared veg. Would like more variety

Potentially eventually! I just don't have the start-up cash for that sort of thing right now, hiring commercial kitchen space isn't cheap. There's also the logistics side, I wouldn't really be able to cook and deliver on the same day, so there'd be storage costs and everything else that comes with that on top. So I think I’d try with the initial idea first then explore more !

Thankyou for your answer. Our cleaner was £17.5p/h and more expensive than the others around us so £25p/h is steep 😳. A cleaner does a more unpalatable job and the results are more predictable so more ppl pay for it. The service offered by the OP would be too expensive for most ppl but for potentially average results. Not to mention that at a price point of £25 p/h even assuming a consistent 5-6 clients a week, it’s not viable for her to make a living off it.

I think it’s a brilliant idea. Cooking my recipes in my kitchen and stashing it in the freezer. Absolute bliss. Ready meals are not really that great. If cooked in your own kitchen you would have so many hoops to jump through from health and safety etc that it would become too expensive. Please let me know if you set up in Hertfordshire 😊

Hi op
Hi op, I haven’t read the whole thread but I just wanted to say that I and several friends I know do pay for exactly this service, just as you describe. Yes it’s expensive, but the hourly rate we pay someone to do the batch cooking is more than worth it (perhaps not in the long term but at this stage of life with young children, two working parents and lots of responsibilities). Just as worth it as a cleaner in my view or other services that people sometimes pay (eg people often pay to have their nails done, or ironing or diy jobs at home or gardening or cleaning the car etc, and the people use that extra time in order to be able to spend more time on their own work or more family time). We heard our friends rave about the service and have since signed up the same women who now does this for 5 families, one afternoon each (for eg 5 hours per family). She also offers to arrange the Ocado delivery for the right day as she knows what she needs. She sends recipe ideas in advance and does the washing up after. She does have several cooking qualifications.

The comparisons with Cook seem flawed to me. I used Cook meals for ages and do rate it, they are great in their own way, but it’s not the same. Cook meals are sold in plastic dishes for a start, and one of the main reasons for home cooked food is to avoid plastics and certain other potentially undesirable materials and ingredients. The person we use puts the food into glass Tupperware or ceramic dishes. Also all the Cook food is frozen whereas the batch cooking at least some of it will be eaten fresh on the few days following the cooking day (while yes some portions do go into the freezer). And cooking in the home means you can tailor to specific requests of the family, eg if they want organic meat, low salt, etc.

Maybe this only works in areas where there’s likely to be likely to be lots of families who are time poor / who have disposable income, eg in certain areas of London. But it is certainly a viable business idea if done correctly and marketed to the right people who want use it. and one that I’ve witnessed absolutely taking off.

Agree with this - it sounds like the time spent talking through expectations/preferences and then sorting ingredients would outweigh any time saved not doing the actual cooking.

I’d be really interested to know what hourly rate you pay your lady if you’d be willing to share it?

If we assume 25p/h for the OP x 25hrs/week x 46w/pa she’d be making c£29k/£22k gross/net income - which is around the London Living Wage (accepting that she lives in Herts but it sounds like you are in London)

There’s no contingency in these basic calculations for all the costs that come with being self employed (eg. Illness cover, pensions etc) so actual take home will be less than this even before you consider the ongoing unpaid time and effort needed to invest in sourcing clients (and chasing them for payment!). And the only way to keep income in line with COL increases would be to put hourly rates up every year. I could see it maybe working as a side hustle to bring in a bit “extra” to eg a family with a SAHP with school age kids, but not as a main breadwinners job and definitely not as a medium or long term business venture. I’d be genuinely fascinated to see the accounts of someone with the OPs qualifications who has made a success of this as a long term career.

I wouldn’t pay £25 for someone to cook my dinner for me tbh, especially when I’ve had to do all the shopping and mental load of deciding what to buy. My cleaner is £20 an hour and I think that is more valuable and more of a skill tbh

Just for clarity for everyone.

Look on taskrabbit or airtasker. Loads of people want someone for this

The people who typically want it are parents of young families, couples and single people. Not old people. The last ad I saw was for a guy in his late 20s.

They want it in their home.

So for everyone saying they wouldn't, people just like you do, DO.

People start there and then go into being a private chef if they want to make a career of it. A lot of people who want a private chef actually want someone who can cook well. Not fancy stuff necessarily. Tasty, nutritious, home cooked meals.

Have a look at the home chefs on IG.

I wouldn’t want someone to come and cook a lasagne for that night and two that can go in the freezer. I can use other services for that.

I’d like someone who can pan fry some fish and make a couple of fresh salads, grill some chicken and sauté fresh vegetables or make some fresh pasta.

Exactly the sort of food that won’t last overnight in the fridge. for me that’s where the value would be.

But do they want it to the extent that OP can build a business out of it? Because to be successfully self-employed you either need a skill or talent that someone wants to use on a regular basis, or do something that will always need to pay someone for.

I can see people using this for a few weeks with little kids but is it really something people will shell out £75 a week for, week in, week out?

I’d absolutely hate this service.

Let me know if you are near Edinburgh my daughter was just saying this the other day Wouldn’t it be great if someone came to your house and batch cooked for you then you could stick it all in the freezer!