Cookups - home cooked to order
The co-founders, Namira Hossain and Misha Ali, almost equally passionate about gastronomy, and blessed with an entrepreneurial instinct, saw how often people looked for homemade comfort food and sought to fill that void when away from home.
And thus on July 25 this year Cookups BD began its journey, primarily through social media, this year, and has since become quite popular. The major cause for its growing popularity is its excellence as a platform for people to buy and sell home cooked meals is its variety and accessibility. Cookups most compelling factor is that it is not a restaurant; it is a bunch of food-lovers who love to cook and they cook from their homes and offer it to the social media users of Bangladesh, something not done before.
Cookups offers all kinds of delicacies, from simple desserts to more robust fare like honey glazed barbeque chicken, to beef with bok choy in oyster sauce.
Cookups BD now has almost 40 different kitchens working throughout Dhaka city. A large segment of the members of Cookups BD are based in the Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara area. Along with them, there are also home chefs operating in Uttara, Niketan, Dhanmondi and Mohammadpur. They provide a wide variety of international cuisines, which they meticulously prepare at home. Customers have the choice to order Mexican, Thai, Korean, Italian as well as a host of other dishes. There are also local favourites on offer- deshi, shahi and Mughal.
The cooks, as well as their kitchens, are inspected by the Cookups BD team who ensure the home chefs are maintaining proper safety, hygiene, quality and other relevant issues. Cookups BD have also implemented an anonymous survey to give the chefs' feedback on the quality of their food.
Another unique facet of the business is how the menu is chosen. The cooks prepare a dish of their choice and upload pictures of it on the web platform, along with the price and location for pick-up. Customers can go on their Facebook group: Cookups-Pilot and, upon finding something they like, can order and pick it up themselves or choose to have it delivered.
They also do requests – if you have certain foods that you are dying to try, they will do their best to make that wish come true. You can also find recipes for their amazing delicacies on their Facebook page, in case you want to try your hand at it.
When asked about the future of Cookups BD, Namira Hossain said, "I am optimistic. We are looking to expand Cookups in more locations throughout the city and we are even planning on developing an app."
What is truly inspirational about their business model is that it offers employment opportunities to a great many people, with easy access and skills many don't have to earn anew. It is the perfect haven for culinary enthusiasts to showcase their talents and it makes it possible for homemakers to earn some income from their culinary skills, an unprecedented feat in business terms. Cookups BD does not seek profit from the sellers on their site. Food enthusiasts prepare their food, post a picture on Facebook and wait for the orders to come in. People go to their page and order the food they like and directly correspond with the home chefs.
When asked about the journey of Cookups and its goals, owner Namira Hossain said, "I want Cookups to reach every corner of the city because good food should be accessible to everyone. Home-made food is something Bangladeshis really pride in and we love to feed people and also to feel appreciated. I also want to move from the Facebook group to the app because that will help automate the process and make it easier for everybody."
It's high time we all give Cookups a go, for the benefit of our own taste buds and cravings, as well as support such a wonderful initiative, which brings home cooked as well international variety of cuisines to our fingertips!
For now, head to their Facebook page, hit "like" and order away- facebook.com/cookupsbd
By Mormee Mahtab
Photo courtesy: Cookups