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The COVID-19 pandemic created a seismic shift in the way people order, prepare, and consume food. With restaurants around the country closing their doors overnight, it left professional chefs and other restaurant workers along with millions of other out-of-work people seek new ideas for earning money when they couldn’t really leave their homes. Thus the astronomical rise of interest in the cottage food industry and the demand for a homemade food app that allows chefs, home chefs, and more to market their goods to their communities.
One such app is the HomeMade App that allows chefs to sell food they prepared in their homes. This is hardly the only app available that has many cottage food entrepreneurs wondering which is the best app to sell food on? The HomeMade app for chefs is one of many options available today. The good news is that you do not necessarily need to limit your efforts to a single app. As long as you are following the rules of the apps and the laws in your state and community, you will find you enjoy a nice selection when seeking an app for home cooked meals and selling them.
Who would have ever thought that in our drive-thru, convenience food crazy world, an app for selling home cooked food might just be the one invention that got our nation, collectively, through the pandemic? Not only did it help to quell the hunger of the burning masses, but it also helped turn home kitchens into money-making ideas when jobs evaporated overnight, and livelihoods were changed in an instant.
Below are some of the apps making waves today for people interested in selling their homemade food to others.
Don’t forget to factor in a few important details when comparing apps to see which, if any, meet your needs best. These things include the cost to you and your consumers, the reputation and rating of the app, the market the app serves, and how many people are using the app. What you ultimately want to know is where the app is worth its cost to you. It may take some trial and error and you may find one or more stand out above the rest.
While apps like Freshly may be your “go to” resource for frozen prepared meal delivery, if you’re looking for apps that offer home cooked food delivery near me or a homemade food delivery app, you’re going to have to dig a little deeper. Prepared meal delivery is an excellent choice for people who prefer authentic flavor in their food and want something different than what local fast-food services provide.
If you operate a home kitchen, you may be wondering which apps provide homemade food delivery near me. This includes apps like UberEats, DoorDash, and others that offer to pick food up for customers and deliver it to their doors. On the one hand, these apps provide the means for many cottage food kitchens to offer online homemade food delivery services to their customers.
On the other hand, these apps provide instant distractions to many other restaurants and homemade food options to distract potential customers. But if you’re wondering how to deliver home made food online, apps like these offer a viable option if you are willing to work with the app makers and jump through whatever hoops they require to associate with your business.
Depending on where you live there, there are home cooked food delivery app options that might do the trick and meet the needs of your customers. Even better? If you know a displaced programmer, perhaps you could work out an arrangement where they create a home cooked food delivery app for your business and then sell the rights to use it to others like yours. You can both win with that type of agreement.
Or you could create a homemade food delivery service as a side business in addition to your cottage food kitchen. Acts like this could fill a need in the cottage food industry, locally speaking, while encouraging home cooks, like yourself, to band together to raise awareness, change laws, and increase sales all around.
Honestly, UberEats and DoorDash aren’t built to serve homemade food businesses with their delivery services. That doesn’t mean you can’t create something new, different, and exciting for your customers and others who like the appeal of Indian home cooked food delivery and other options. Whether you’re looking for a homemade food delivery app in India or one in Texas, the more people who speak out and ask what’s available, the greater the odds that someone will eventually meet the need – unless you make the decision to meet it yourself.
The Shef startup is one that is designed specifically for home chefs, allowing them to connect with customers, manage orders, and arrange to have the food delivered. The app makes money by taking a 15 percent cut off the top of each order and Shef keeps 100 percent of all tips and other payments.
The one huge gaping problem with the Shef app is that it is currently extremely limited in scope and scale. Currently, the marketplace for home-cooked food Shef offers is only live in select areas, including:
The app is planning to expand and has raised money for the cause. However, these expansions take time and many home chefs need something to help now. If you'd like to start selling your homemade food now, try Castiron.
Part of the limited availability is related to regulations. Before 2020, many states had very strict requirements for home kitchens and cottage food entrepreneurs. The COVID-19 pandemic created a huge outcry from food service workers and immigrants alike who were suddenly unable to earn meaningful incomes. As a result, some 29 states have expanded cottage food laws to accommodate a broader audience of home chefs, palates, and food service needs within communities.
The home chefs who work with Shef must get appropriate food handling certifications in their states and receive a package from the organization that has items required to safely prepare food in their home kitchens. They also receive instruction on packaging meals, formulating menus, safety, and even setting prices.
In June of 2021, the organization had more than 12,000 home chefs on their waiting list hoping to become the next Shef Chefs. If you’re a home chef in one of the cities where Shef is available, working with their platform can offer much greater visibility as well as valuable training and advice for you. More importantly, it offers a platform that lends greater credibility to all cottage food kitchens, including yours. The more people who participate in the Shef program, the more people will learn about the amazing dining options available that go far beyond traditional fast food and delivery.
The waiting list is currently long and intimidating, but starting the process now gives you the opportunity to be somewhat established by the time Shef is ready for you.
The Cake Whisperer
My business would not be the same without my Castiron website! It is an easy setup with lots of customization and tons of support! I am so glad I set up my shop last year before the holidays — it really helped increase my sales!
The Whimsical Cookie
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Castiron provides me a professional site to my customers increasing my credibility and value while giving me the tools to effectively market and manage my business in an easy, user-friendly manner.
Wesley's Treats Hallie's Sweets
Castiron has made my cottage bakery shine, and my business easy to manage. As a platform they care about my business as much as I do.
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Easy to start, created specifically for local, handmade food: Castiron’s website builder was created to help you grow. Create a website in minutes with our templates, sell where and how your customers want to buy, and look professional without being technical. Keep customers coming back with email marketing tools, customer records, and more.
Food entrepreneurs, this is your moment. Your community is more and more conscious about what they buy and where it is from. They want food made with love. With ingredients they can pronounce. And they want to support their community while doing it.
Castiron is the best fit for your food business because we're not a one-size-fits-all tool. Selling local food is different from pre-packaged warehouse products. Whether you sell cooking classes, need local pick up, utilize pre-sales to plan inventory, or need a fully custom order form — we got you.
No code required. Add pages, sell your products, build order forms, and show off your beautiful work. We'll handle the tech so you can focus on growing your food business.
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