This business is booming!, Cooking is too tiring, and takeout is too expensive

"Delivery is too expensive and cooking is too tiring." As an office worker, have you ever imagined, "Didi, someone will prepare your food and deliver it to your home?"? Nowadays, some people are targeting this demand and cooking for "nearby people". Is this a good business?

Cooking for neighbors, so hot that registration is suspended

Zhongxin Jingwei has noticed that the people engaged in this business are mainly mothers, unemployed individuals, and young elderly people. They rely on their families or shops as their base, radiating three to eight kilometers around them. Some only serve neighbors in their own community, providing customers with set meals, emphasizing fresh stir fry and meat and vegetable pairing. The average price ranges from ten to twenty yuan, similar to the takeout version of the "adult small dining table.".

On the social platform, Xiaomu and her post-95 sisters jointly operate two accounts, "What to eat today" and "Sister's small dinner table: Mumu". The two accounts update their daily process of preparing, cooking, loading and delivering vegetables.

"We originally ordered a shop and wanted to make bowl chicken in Xi'an, but after seeing the video of middle-aged men going to the small table every day, we thought it was a good direction. Both my sisters and I have good craftsmanship. Our main goal is to provide people with balanced nutrition, less oil and salt, and freshly cooked meals, so the scope of radiation will not be particularly large, and we mainly do business with frequent customers. At present, after a month of trying, we have basically achieved a break even." Xiao Mu told Zhongxin Jingwei.

On the top page of their account, it is written that adult small dining tables can be booked for lunch on a weekly or monthly basis, with a weekly fee of 90 yuan and a monthly fee of 350 yuan on a weekend basis. In addition, there will be an additional delivery fee of one yuan for delivery distances between 3-6 kilometers. "To ensure the quality of the dishes and delivery time, it is not possible to order and eat whatever needs to be done. The menu for next week will be released every Saturday."

Xiaomu told China News Service that their main target audience is office workers in nearby office buildings, and now the daily order volume has reached over a hundred.

"We have calculated that if we can accept fifty orders per day, calculated at a 50% gross profit margin, it can cover the labor costs of the two of us. Moreover, compared to going to work, this kind of work is more flexible, just physically tiring, not mentally tiring." Xiao Mu said.

Another person who has a similar experience with Xiaomu is Baoma Xiaofeng. Xiaofeng's original plan was to set up a stall to sell handmade roasted white, but many loyal customers suggested that she switch to a small adult dining table.

"I tried it and it felt pretty good. I used to work 12 hours a day off, but now I make this lunch package mainly for the local community and nearby office buildings," said Xiao Feng. After a month of operation, Xiaofeng now has a WeChat group of over 70 people, with a stable daily order volume of 12 to 15 boxes.

Xiaofeng told Zhongxin Jingwei that her set meal usually includes two meat and two vegetable dishes. Take the dishes of a day for example, including quail eggs with meat, old pickled vegetables with meat, pickled Chinese cabbage with tender beans, and cold mixed eggplant. The price is 16 yuan.

At such a price, she estimates a gross profit margin of 60% -70%. Based on this calculation, her net profit for the first month can already reach her previous full-time salary.

As a "worker", Nana often doesn't have time to cook and doesn't want to order takeout, so she has the idea of going to her neighbor's house for dinner. So Nana set up a "grab a meal group" in the community. "If you want to cook, change the name to someone who cooks, and if you want to eat, change it to someone who eats. Neighbors in the community serve as volunteers, responsible for contacting those who are willing to cook every day and posting menus in the group." Nana introduced.

Later, due to a short video becoming popular, "Zaifan Group" quickly became popular nationwide. Nana realized that the popularity of "food grabbing groups" to some extent indicates that people have a relatively high acceptance of their neighbors cooking. This decentralized neighborhood dining table may solve the trust problem of traditional takeout.

So Nana planned to promote this model to more communities across the country, and later a mini program called "Neighborhood Dining Table" was born. Through this mini program, people who cook can post menus on their community page, and neighbors can order meals.

Regarding the current progress, Nana stated that the mini program will be launched in mid April 2023. As of now, the total number of users has exceeded 35000, with over 1000 chefs registered, daily order volume in the three digits, and active numbers in the four digits. Moreover, due to the increasing number of new users and significant operational pressure on the mini program, they have temporarily suspended the registration of new users. "We need to spend time thinking about food safety, neighborhood assistance, and platform profitability," Nana said.

Due to capacity limitations, can only be "small and beautiful"?

As an emerging phenomenon, "cooking for nearby people" is highly discussed on social media platforms, but there are some concerns among practitioners.

Qiuqiu is in Shenzhen. She has been making Chinese light food home takeout since early June, with prices ranging from 20 to 30 yuan per serving and an average gross profit margin of around 40%.

In Qiuqiu's view, this is destined to be only a "small and beautiful" thing, with great difficulty in promotion. She previously distributed over a thousand small cards in the community and nearby office buildings, but only sent hundreds of them, with only a few dozen people scanning codes to add friends. Converted to actual customer orders, the average daily volume is around ten or so. In first tier cities, she believes that this cannot alleviate the pressure of survival. In addition, she currently only has a health certificate and is concerned that this model does not comply with regulatory regulations.

Xiaomu is facing the problem of a mismatch between the rapidly growing order volume and transportation capacity. She told China News Service that they can now receive over 100 orders per day, but currently she is the only one delivering, and she can deliver 20-30 orders along a single route every day. "We have also tried to take orders first and then talk to the riders with the order quantity, but because the riders are not familiar with the surrounding environment, many users were unable to eat on time, and we lost 1200 yuan," said Xiao Mu.

Nana believes that the original intention of neighborhood dining tables is to provide mutual assistance and help some groups earn income. They have users who open small dining tables and earn money that can cover the cost of living for the entire family. "But currently, this emerging phenomenon also faces many challenges, such as qualification issues, food safety issues, tax issues, etc. We have had exchanges with relevant departments, and they have expressed that for innovative behavior, regulatory issues need to be discussed together," Nana said.

Lawyer suggests keeping the sample for 48 hours

For such business activities, Lawyer Zhang Xiaoguang from Beijing Xinkai Law Firm told China News Service that according to Article 35 of the Food Safety Law, the state implements a licensing system for food production and operation. Those engaged in food production, sales, and catering services should obtain licenses in accordance with the law. Therefore, such food business entities should also apply for business qualifications and food hygiene licenses in accordance with the law.

However, for some mothers, unemployed individuals, and elderly people with employment difficulties, Zhang Xiaoguang believes that if conditions permit and the business scale is large, it is still necessary to apply for business qualifications in accordance with the law and regulations, and accept supervision from the industry and commerce, tax, and health departments; For smaller ones, it can be seen as a form of neighborhood mutual assistance. Even if the conditions for obtaining business qualifications are not yet met, attention should be paid to the personal health of the production and processing workers to meet industry specific requirements, ensure reliable sources of food materials, maintain hygiene in the processing and production environment, clean and disinfect food processing utensils, form a stable supply relationship with a small fixed population, limit business scope, ensure food safety, quality and traceability, and still bear the responsibility of ensuring food safety.

Hu Gang, Deputy Secretary General of the Law Working Committee of the China Internet Association, said in an interview with Sino Singapore Jingwei that different regions have different levels of supervision over family food takeout, requiring permission or filing, complying with the positive list or negative list. Practitioners must call the local government hotline 12345 in advance for consultation to avoid bearing corresponding legal responsibilities for violations.

For practitioners who provide home catering and takeaway services, Hu Gang suggests that firstly, for some practitioners who provide home catering and takeaway services, regulatory authorities should regulate them more from the perspective of promoting employment and providing basic guarantees. Secondly, relevant practitioners should firmly adhere to the bottom line of food safety, and it is recommended to keep relevant food for necessary retention. If there are related disputes, this can also be used to clarify responsibility, and a retention sample should be kept for at least 48 hours.