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What chefs in India should know before going online

Anyone selling food in India, including home chefs and small caterers, needs FSSAI registration: basic registration for small operations, and a state or central licence once turnover or scale crosses the set limits. Show the registration or licence number on your site and menus, and keep it current. Hotel kitchens hire through referrals, campus drives at hotel-management institutes and job portals such as Naukri, and cruise and Gulf recruiters look for clear station history and hygiene training. Private clients find home chefs through Instagram, WhatsApp groups in their society and word of mouth after a party. Be precise about Jain, satvik, halal or eggless preparation if you offer it, because families rely on those words.

Common website mistakes chefs make

• Using stock food photos or images from a hotel’s marketing team as your own; shoot your plates yourself in daylight and say which kitchen they came from.
• Listing “Indian, Chinese, Continental” with no depth; name the regional cuisines and techniques you actually know, such as Awadhi dum cooking or laminated pastry.
• Home chefs leaving out the FSSAI number, minimum order and lead time, which means every enquiry becomes a long chat; put all three near the menu.
• Writing “can cook for any number of guests” when your kitchen realistically handles fifty; state your comfortable capacity so you do not overcommit on a wedding order.
• Letting festival menus stay online after Diwali or Eid; remove seasonal offers once they end so customers do not order items you have stopped making.