BHUBANESWAR: At a time when safety and hygiene have become the priorities for anyone looking to dine out, a group of home chefs has taken it upon itself to satisfy residents’ food cravings.
Two youths, who have just graduated college, have started ‘Chef Junction’, which has brought together 40 home chefs, including housewives, and delivered more than 2,000 orders in the past couple of months. The menu of Chef Junction, which resembles a cloud kitchen, comprises an array of dishes ranging from Odia to desserts, traditional Indian to biryani, pizza to bakery items.
Suryanshu Panda and Ipari Pritam, graduates in bachelor of business management from Xavier University Bhubaneswar and self-confessed foodies, began Chef Junction, a food delivery platform from where a customer can order hygienic home-cooked food prepared by hand-picked home chefs. “We never liked the concept of a 9-5 job and wanted to do something of our own. We believed in independent and challenging work, which would boost our creativity. Being big-time foodies, we were drawn towards this idea. We started with seven home cooks in August,” said 23-year-old Suryanshu.
A team of six ensures hygiene and quality of the food provided by the home cooks. “Before we sign on a person to cook food for our customers, the first thing we see is what oils and spices they are using. Cleanliness in the kitchen is our priority,” he added.
“If a home cook wants to join our platform, they call us and the team gets to taste their food. If the team approves, they get a licence under the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which is mandatory for any food business. The licence remains valid for one year,” he explained.
Each home cook associated with the platform earns around Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 a week, adding to their family income. Among the 40 home cooks, 20 are housewives and 10 are professionally employed women. The rest are men.
“Chef Junction is a great platform for an amateur chef like me. The concept of home chefs is new here and dine-at-home is the new dining out,” said Sitesh Tunga, a 21-year-old home chef. A student of Culinary Academy of India, Sitesh rustles up Italian and biryani for Chef Junction. Chef Junction also serves food for people with special needs like diabetics, patients of high blood pressure and kidney ailments. Seventy per cent of their customers are repeat customers.
Home chef, Arpita, said she had wanted to start a food business. “I could not, due to many reasons. Chef Junction fulfilled my dream,” she said.