Home cooks find hungry customers online
It began with a batch of butter tarts.
“My husband loves butter tarts,” explained Dana Elizabeth. “I baked a few extra this year, and I wondered if anyone would want them.”
The Abbotsford woman posted a picture on a Facebook site dedicated to connecting home cooks and bakers with the hungry public, and she instantly had an order — and then another, and another.
Two weeks and 45 dozen butter tarts later, Elizabeth now has a little extra Christmas money and a new business venture.
The Abbotsford woman is one of dozens of home cooks and bakers offering treats for sale online this holiday season, using social media to sell food to neighbours in search of homemade food.
“I think of these sites as the online version of the traditional bake sale,” Elizabeth said. “People can order online and get something homemade.”
Some of Elizabeth’s customers are seniors who can’t bake anymore; others simply don’t have time to bake. But they all appreciate the Christmas-y combination of pastry, butter and brown sugar that comes from her kitchen. She said she doesn’t plan to give up her day job as a care home cook, but she may turn her love of baking into a sideline.
Chaahat Luthra Sethi had a similar idea when she started posting curries and sauces for sale on a Facebook page three and a half years ago. But when a customer picking up food at her home was uncomfortable, she decided to take her business to the next level, doing the required food-safe courses and licensing.
Vancouver Coastal Health spokeswoman Anna Marie D’Angelo said the health authority is aware of the existence of small food operations in the region.
“We would become involved in these types of operations if we received public complaints or there were reports of food-borne illness,” she said in an email, warning there are potential health risks around food safety.
Like Sethi, some cooks eventually decide to go legit, while others make their offerings casually, posting an ad when they have the urge to cook or bake for neighbours.
Sethi’s Indian Curry Hub Facebook page now has hundreds of customers. The home cook prepares her meals — including her bestselling butter chicken sauce and chickpea curries — out of a commercial kitchen in Mission and delivers to several Lower Mainland communities on designated days.
Sethi has a background in food preparation and was selling her curries to restaurants and stores.
“My friend was buying it in the store. She said ‘I know you make it. Why can’t I buy it from you?’,” she explained. That led to a brand-new business model that has her making 100 to 125 litres of butter chicken sauce on busy weekends.
Jodi Woywitka also makes sauces for sale, but on a smaller scale. Her jellies and hot sauces — made from local ingredients, including vegetables from her own garden — have proved popular online. The Abbotsford woman has always loved canning and sharing her preserves, especially during the holidays.
Stay-at-home mom Bich Do began selling Vietnamese spring rolls a few months ago on a bidding site. She likes the extra income and sharing her favourite recipe with others. She makes her spring rolls fresh every day .
“My food is really healthy,” she said. “I feed it to my child, so it’s definitely healthy.”
For Denise Reid, baking has become an act of service, rather than a source of income. The mom of two struggled with breastfeeding and began making “lactation cookies” — essentially drop cookies made with oats, flax and brewers’ yeast, which help increase milk supply. They were a dramatic success, and she decided to use social media to sell them to other moms, baking about five to 10 orders each week.
“Breastfeeding is really hard, so if I can help someone, I’m happy to do that,” she said.
Reid thinks the sense of community created by online groups helps to drive business, in addition to the referrals from happy customers.
“The great thing about these sites is the referrals,” she said. “Mom referrals are the best. Moms always listen to other moms.”