Re:Gauging interest for a new Startup
by narrowrail on Saturday November 08, 2014 @01:59AM
(#8576259)
I know that in Colorado, a law was passed in 2012 (or earlier) allowing people to prepare food in home kitchens as long as it's sold directly to the customers (i.e. not wholesale). This has allowed many small-scale food providers to sell their goods at farmer's markets.
Also, this could be useful for established catering companies which have commercial kitchens.
I googled the Colorado law you mentioned [1]. It wouldn't apply for the use case mentioned by the OP. It seems to be restricted to food "products", like baked goods or pickles. It has a lot of other restrictions that would make it incompatible with the OP's service.
I agree about the catering thing, but it doesn't seem like that's the core of their idea.
Re:Gauging interest for a new Startup
by narrowrail on Saturday November 08, 2014 @08:17AM
(#8576772)
Interesting; I never bothered to know the specifics. I know of some people violating these laws, but they are rather small (so, likely to remain under the radar). My understanding is that there are commercial-grade kitchens one can rent, but rates are cost prohibitive for truly small operations.
Thanks smt88, you've brought up several good points. At a large scale we wouldn't be able to monitor the conditions of the home kitchens. A solution for this is user ratings, if any given home chef/caterer receives even 1 poor rating we will limit their account activity until an inspection is performed. We'd have to perform an inspection to find out if the poor rating was well-founded. If so, the caterer's account would remain limited until the proper precautionary measures have been taken to avoid this from happening again. Many incidents of food poisoning happen after a perfectly enjoyable meal. We are aware of this possibility. A solution for this would be an liability-insurance policy. If any users should happen to get sick from the food, not only will the caterer be no longer able to serve food but the ill consumer's medical costs will be covered. I've just reached out to Torontos Municipal Licensing & Standards commite to inquire about the feasibility of such a business. As per Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 545, Licensing, a business licence is required for any business where food is stored, prepared, or sold for human consumption, such as:
coffee shops
burger shops
delicatessens
donut shops
fish and chips stores
pizza parlours
restaurants
What would happen when buying food from people who have zero regulation and are competing with each other to save on costs?
When you increase competition, you create a race to the bottom. Price has to decrease or people go out of business, and they will end up cutting corners.
By contrast, Uber is self-regulated. They have a lot of ways to keep drivers accountable (GPS, for example).
With Airbnb, you might be put in a shitty place, but it's not going to make you sick if someone skimps on the quality.
Food is totally different. Not only are you begging regulators to crack down on you and force your vendors to get food licenses, you're definitely putting customers at risk.
Are you going to monitor the conditions of the home kitchens? Are you going to make sure there aren't any rats, or that food doesn't sit out in the "danger zone" of temperatures, or that they throw away expired food? Or that they don't store food in boxes on the floor?
You can have ratings, but you can't always taste danger in your food. Many incidents of food poisoning happen after a perfectly enjoyable meal.
I don't know about Canada, but in the US, you'd also be the delight of any lawsuit-happy lawyer. If you're advertising these services, making the connection, and taking a cut of the proceeds, you're going to be responsible for vetting the vendors.
All of that in mind, you should already have an airtight liability-insurance policy.