Cotfoo offers two ways to show your cooking skills:

• Become a host: This experience offers you a chance to host with the comfort of hosting in your home. Or for some menu items you can select 'Pick up' option, So guest can come and pick up the food from your house.

• Be a visiting chef: This model enables you to be a visiting chef at your guests home, you can cook and your guest can learn the recipe at the same time.

Any one can cook. We all are secret super stars who prepare healthy and homemade meals for our families with lots of love. Becoming a host with Cotfoo is an easy process. You can start the process by signing up on our website and then choosing Become a Host button on your guest profile or by clicking "Become a Host" on top right corner of homepage.

Once you create a host account, you will receive an email from our team requesting a demo meal and on boarding procedure. We will follow-up with you and start the on boarding process. We will visit your home and complete the process, following which you can start hosting.

Can’t decide on a price? Don’t worry, here are the tips for pricing your meal.

1. Food Portion We advice you to consider the portion of food you will be serving your guests. Some points to remember are: · Food should be reasonably priced in relation to its quantity. · You can decide the quantity according to your daily appetite. · Please specify the exact quantity of food when uploading your menu to avoid confusion later on. Ex. 2 chapati’s, one small bowl of sabji, one bowl dal and some rice can be considered as a standard plate.

2. Preparation Time How much time did it take to prepare this meal? · Did it take you the same time as every other day or was it something that took you longer than usual? · Did you have to prepare some of the meal in advance or from scratch? (eg. homemade pizza base, idli batter etc.) · Did you have to go the grocery store specifically for ingredients in this meal?

3. Ingredients What ingredients were used to prepare this meal? · Normal ingredients that are easily obtainable (eg. vegetables like tomato, onion, green chillies or spices like red chilli, haldi, garam masala etc.) · Rare/exotic ingredients that are not available easily and pricier. (eg. mushroom, lettuce, herbs etc.) · Spices that have been made at home. · Organic or homegrown produce. . wholesome food used for ingredients .

4. Type of Meal · Is it something you could cook everyday? · Is the meal locally available or hard to find in your region? · Is the recipe your own or a traditional family recipe?

5. Ambience/ Amenities of your house and experiences you can offer Just think from restaurent perspective you visit What kind of experience you are offering to guest? If your house is in nature offering a peaceful and beautiful surrounding If you are hosting meals at your farms or terrace garden If your setup is in farmland and you allow guest to have farm visit experience.

6. Professional/personal/social value you will offer to your guest cooking is your passion and you like to connect to people for similar interests -you can price your meal accordingly. Few tips Are you providing any valuable tips/mentoring/expertise during your conversation - e.g .organic kitchen garden tips Alternative education tips Any career mentoring Any expertise/skills/suggestions you will be offering which is going to add value to guest knowledge based on shared interests

After Cotfoo has approved you as a host, you will see a tab " Host" on your dashboard. Click on "Host" tab and then click "My Menus" tab. Please click on " Add Menu" on right side of the page and start adding your menu. Write a short title for your meal and add other details e.g. meal category, meal sub category, meal details, any remarks for the guest.  For the same menu title you can create variations by choosing different meal times (breakfast, lunch, dinner etc), dates, price and meal times.  You can also check  " Gift Meal" option if you want to gift this meal to someone and select act of kindness, you want your guest to perform for this gift meal. You can make changes to same menu in order to offer it at a later date/time based on your availability and cooking schedule for your family.

When you get a request for a meal on your notification board and sms, you will come across the options to accept or decline the request. You can check a guest’s profile before accepting/declining their request for a meal.

After you get a request on sms, you have 30 mins to respond to your guest's request. Please try to respond as soon as you see request so guest can search for another meal options if you decline the request

After accepting a guest’s request for a meal, you will be sent a message/email containing the contact information of your guest along with their profile with which you can talk/email/sms with your guests before you host.

After you have accepted a guest’s request for a meal you will get an email containing the profile and contact details of your guest. If you find that you cannot find the contact details of your guest please contact us at [email protected].

Yes, Cotfoo has checked the legalities of the process. FSSAI - Food safety and standards authority of India permits the home cooks to serve meals from homes (pickup and deliver). As per the rules If you don't sell food more than 20kg/lt per day, then you don't have to register yourself with FSSAI. If you are selling more than 20kg/lt food and your annual revenue is not more than 12L/annum then you have to just register with FSSAI. fees for registration is 100Rs/ family. It is compliant under Indian rules and regulations.

So that you host a great meal, we have some tips help you out, please see below -

Congratulations on becoming a Cotfoo Host. Now that you are ready to host your first meal you might be wondering how to provide a great experience to your guest. Don’t worry, we have some tips to help you out.

1. Be warm and friendly to your guests, welcome them with a smile and make sure they are comfortable.

2. Initiate conversation if they seem hesitant or shy. Try to find similar interests and topics of conversation. Try to avoid discussing sensitive and controversial issues.

3. Make sure your home is reasonably neat and organized.

4. Try your best to prepare the meal in advance so that guests don’t have to wait long, and you don’t have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen while they are present.

5. Have your table set-up properly with all the necessary utensils.

6. Make sure that you are attentive to your guests at all times.

7. If something goes wrong please contact the Cotfoo office and nearby police station immediately.

8. Ensure that the meal ends around specified time.

9. Enjoy the Cotfoo experience and have fun hosting!

We are trying to build a trusted community.  Every person on Cotfoo has to provide us their information about themselves to create a profile. In addition each profile is verified through Adhaar card. You can still check guests profiles before you accept their meal request.

For now, to make it easier for both parties, you will be paid every month for all meals you have hosted during the month . You can either be payed through PayTM or the money can also be transferred straight to your bank account. You get the option to choose your payment method by providing details during the sign up process.

To cancel a meal you can go to the CotFoo website and follow these steps:

1. Go to 'Upcoming/Hosted Meals' from your dashboard.

2. Select on the upcoming meal you want to cancel.

3. Click on the 'cancel meal' option. Following these steps you will receive an email acknowledging the cancellation of your meal.

Please refer to our cancellations and refund policy to understand cancellation charges.  

We are really sorry if your guest(s) did not make it to the meal, if your guest did not cancel the meal then you will still receive a full payment. However, if the guest does cancel the meal please refer to Cancellation and Refund tab for more details.

At Cotfoo we are trying to build a Reputation system and trusted community.  This Reputation can be used across the platforms globally to create a rating of you as an individual.

Cotfoo has a very simple rating and review system, both the host and guest can rate and review. Rating is a mandatory process after each meal, your guests’ ratings affect your profile, so, if your ratings are high, you will get more requests from guests. Ratings also affect the amount of views your menu gets. The rating you give to your guest also affects their profile.

The referral system on Cotfoo is really simple. You get a referral code which can be sent to your contacts via email, facebook, whatsApp and text messages. When a person uses your referral code on CotFoo, both you and they get Cotfoo beans. These beans can be redeemed in the form of free meals on Cotfoo! Please refer our Rewards and Referrals page for more details. 

The price on the website will be the price of your meal, plus Cotfoo transaction fee. Cotfoo does not charge host to offer their meals but charges the guest a convenience fees to use our services. 

If the cuisine you are cooking is not listed, you can choose the ‘other’ option on the list and specify the cuisine in the given text box. Please notify us so we can add this cuisine on our list for future use. 

To edit your profile, go to ‘my profile’ from your dashboard. You will see different tabs on your profile based on your roles at Cotfoo i.e. Host, Guest and Visiting Chef. You can make changes to your profile by clicking the text box of the field you want to edit and updating the information by clicking update profile button at the bottom.

We really appreciate your willingness to support our initiative to build a community to promote healthy and sustainable lifestyle. This is going to be a wonderful journey.

We will be visiting your home for a demo meal to complete the on boarding process. Please provide us with 2-3 dates and times when you are available so that we can select the option which is suitable for both parties.

At the time of the demo dinner please have a photocopy of the id proof that you have provided during registration ready. Also, please be ready with any of your specialty cuisine so that our photographer can take photos to upload on your profile.

We appreciate you giving us your time and we will try to wrap up as soon as possible.We would love for you to watch this youtube video to know more about Cotfoo and our values. https://youtu.be/Lsbm-nZwNNw

Becoming a visiting chef with Cotfoo is an easy process. You can start the process by signing up on our website and then choosing Become a Visiting Chef button on your guest profile or by clicking "Become a Visiting Chef" on top right corner of homepage.

Once you create a visiting chef account, you will receive an email from our team requesting a demo meal. We will follow-up with you and start the on boarding process. We may decide to visit your home and complete the process, following which you can start as visiting chef or can approve you based on your experience of cooking.

After Cotfoo has approved you as a visiting chef, you can click on " Visiting Chef" tab on your dashboard. Then click "My Recipes" tab. Please click on " Add Recipe" button on right side of the page and start adding your recipe. Write a short title for your recipe and add other details e.g. meal category, meal sub category, recipe details, date/ time you are available for visit and any remarks for the guest.  . You can make changes to same recipe in order to offer it at a later date/time based on your availability for visit

You can decide your visiting charges based on following -

Your expertise as a Chef/Cook your specialty recipes preparation time and cooking time your commuting time to guest's place to give an idea to your guest and Cotfoo to charge for your visit- please write approximate prep/cook time and for how many person will be served in the recipe.

For Hosts and Visiting Chef, Cotfoo will maintain a wallet which will show all the payments towards their completed meals/visits they have accumulated and will be paid by Cotfoo at the end of the month into their bank accounts.  Balance in cotfoo wallet can be used for any meals they book as a guest , so they don't have to use other payment modes.

Please refer our Rewards and Referral Page for more details. 

While creating and scheduling your meals/recipes, As a Host or VC, you can decide advance notice window you need to prepare the meal and consider booking from guest. For example - for a menu item you have selected 4 hrs advance notice time, it means if a guest wants to book it 4 hrs before your meal start time, you can accept the booking.

Much of today's society is designed through the lens of financial capital, but is our world richer for it?

Cotfoo - Gifting a meal is a step towards practicing generosity inspired by Nipun Mehta's Service space organization's philosophy and the spirit of service that drives the beautiful work of many organizations and individuals who selflessly give to others.

You will make our universe more lovable by doing this selfless act of kindness and also will inspire your guests to do same.  As a host you have the option to offer a meal once in a while as a gift/other form of currency such as act of kindness and do not want any thing in return. This act of generosity will earn Host/Visiting Chef a higher ratings and reputation. This is a value/reputation system Cotfoo is trying to build in the community.  Please watch Nipun Mehta's TED Talk here - https://youtu.be/oUc_zhrdmaI

Before or up to 8 hrs from meal start time cancellation - 10% of total billing amount will be deducted from Host’s payment account. The guest account will be credited in full within 24 hrs to the payment mode used for booking.

Within 8 hrs -from meal start time cancellation - 25% of total billing amount will be deducted from Host’s payment account. The guest account will be credited in full within 24 hrs to the payment mode used for booking.

If the booking was canceled by the host within 2 hrs of window from meal start time, then Guest Cotfoo rewards account (Cotfoo jar) will also be credited with 10 beans.

Before or up to 8 hrs from meal start time cancellation - 15% of total billing amount will be deducted and remaining will be credited back within 24 hrs of cancellations. Host account will be credited with Cotfoo beans equivalent to 5% of total billing account.

Within 8 hrs to 2 hrs before meal start time cancellation - 30% of total billing amount will be deducted and remaining will be credited back within 24 hrs of cancellations. Host account will be credited with cotfoo beans equivalent to 15% of total billing account.

Within 2 hrs of meal start time cancellation - 50% of total billing amount will be deducted and remaining will be credited back within 24 hrs of cancellations. Host account will be credited with cotfoo beans equivalent to 25% of total billing account.

Before or up to 8 hrs from meal start time cancellation - 10% of total billing amount will be deducted from VC’s payment account. The guest account will be credited in full within 24 hrs to the payment mode used for booking.

Within 8 hrs -from meal start time cancellation - 25% of total billing amount will be deducted from VC’s payment account. The guest account will be credited in full within 24 hrs to the payment mode used for booking.

If the booking was canceled by VC within 2 hrs of window from meal start time, then Guest Cotfoo rewards account (Cotfoo jar) will also be credited with 10 beans. The guest account will be credited in full within 24 hrs to the payment mode used for booking.

Before or up to 8 hrs from meal start time cancellation - 15% of total billing amount will be deducted and remaining will be credited back within 24 hrs of cancellations. VC account will be credited with cotfoo beans equivalent to 5% of total billing account.

Within 8 hrs to 2 hrs before meal start time cancellation - 30% of total billing amount will be deducted and remaining will be credited back within 24 hrs of cancellations. VC account will be credited with cotfoo beans equivalent to 15% of total billing account.

Within 2 hrs of meal start time cancellation - 50% of total billing amount will be deducted and remaining will be credited back within 24 hrs of cancellations. VC account will be credited with cotfoo beans equivalent to 25% of total billing account.

If a guest had requested VC to bring the ingredients and VC has already bought the ingredients from outside. Guest will be responsible to pay VC for ingredients and also pay for delivery charges of the ingredients to guest’s home.

At Cotfoo we are trying to build a a trusted community and establishing reputation system. This Reputation can be used across the platforms globally to create a rating of you as an individual.

Trust is the currency of new economy.  Every person on Cotfoo has to provide us their information about themselves to create a profile. In addition each profile is verified through Adhaar card or another valid ID document. Host, Chef and Guest can check each other's profiles before booking and accepting their meal request.

To ensure the safety and comfort of our hosts/visiting chefs, we request that your account has all your personal information such as address, Aadhar number etc. so that we can verify that your information is correct.

The same thorough process is done for our hosts as well so that we can ensure the security of our guests. All hosts are verified by our team. An extensive verification of their homes and hygiene of their kitchen is done before they are allowed to be on our platform.

A complete profile of our hosts with pictures of their home, their contact information, interests, and profession is available on our website for you to see. If you would like more information you can contact your host directly! You will be eating with your host and their family and the meal is prepared with a lot of love and care, so you know it will be delicious.

If there is a problem with your host please contact us, your meal will be refunded and after a thorough investigation, we will take appropriate action against the host.

All our transactions are through secure payment gateways, we ensure that your money gets to the host directly - that is why we ask you to pay only through Cotfoo and not directly or through third parties.

Cotfoo provides personal insurance up to Rs 10.000 to both hosts and guests on presentation of proof of illness caused by food including medical test reports and Dr’s visit certification. Our insurance agent will come and verify all the proofs with proper investigations and check the validity of the claim.

CotFoo has a thorough background check policy and an extensive verification process for your safety. You can be assured that all hosts and guests on our site have been through our stringent safety checks and are verified users.

Cotfoo has a detailed Ratings and Review system. Each host and user have detailed ratings and reviews on their profile. You can check aspects of host, chefs and guest.

To ensure the safety and comfort of our hosts/visiting chefs, we request that your account has all your personal information such as address, Aadhar number etc. so that we can verify that your information is correct.

The same thorough process is done for our hosts as well so that we can ensure the security of our guests. All hosts are verified by our team. An extensive verification of their homes and hygiene of their kitchen is done before they are allowed to be on our platform.

A complete profile of our hosts with pictures of their home, their contact information, interests, and profession is available on our website for you to see. If you would like more information you can contact your host directly! You will be eating with your host and their family and the meal is prepared with a lot of love and care, so you know it will be delicious.

All our hosts and users have profiles so you can get to know them better. Read about their interests, cuisine of choice and reviews other people have left them. You can check out their hosting space and food too.

The Cotfoo team is available for any emergencies or situations that might arise 24x7. We’re just a call away, you can always reach out to us for any assistance

We have a detailed list of FAQs on our website to help you with any queries. We are also available at [email protected] for any additional questions you might have, please feel free to contact us!