A new profession, door-to-door chef, has emerged quietly in recent years. The manager of a housekeeping company told the Beijing Youth Daily that the chefs recruited years ago were all booked early. After seven days, the average income of each chef can reach more than ten thousand yuan.
Chefs in domestic companies can earn 10,000 yuan a month within 7 days of the Chinese New Year.
"More than 30 chefs in our company are fully booked for the New Year, so now we can only invite them from outside." Manager Liang of a housekeeping company in Beijing told the reporter of Beiqing Daily, "To tell you the truth, my family has to hire a chef from outside for this meal on the fifteenth day of the first month."
Manager Liang said that he has been engaged in domestic work in Beijing for nearly ten years. In the past, his main business was part-time and hourly cleaning. Since 2020, the company has expanded the new project of "on-site chef".
"Because of the large market demand, young people can't go home and want to have a decent New Year's Eve dinner." Manager Liang said that in the past two years, affected by the epidemic, many young people who came to work in big cities could not go home. A person is always lonely during the New Year, and this loneliness can only be alleviated by three or five friends getting together to eat delicious food. One reason is that it is difficult to make an appointment at the hotel for New Year's Eve. Another reason is that more and more young people like the taste of "home" and think that the food in the hotel always lacks a little "fireworks".
Manager Liang said that since he started the "door-to-door chef" business in 2020, he has recruited and filed 45 chefs from various channels, including Henan cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, Hunan cuisine and Anhui cuisine, which is regarded as a relatively large-scale domestic company in the surrounding areas.
She said that the price of a chef for New Year's Eve dinner has risen from the earliest 700 yuan to around 1500 yuan. "Because customers can order food, most of the prices are set by the chef himself. Every time the service is between 2 and 3 hours, they leave after eating, regardless of washing dishes. "
Manager Liang said that in seven days, the average income of each chef can reach more than 10 thousand yuan. She believes that this year's Spring Festival is released, and the order volume should be reduced compared with the previous two years, so the number of registered chefs has also decreased to 25. But what she didn't expect was that before the Chinese New Year, all her chefs were fully booked, so she had to find a chef through other professional relationships, because time was tight, so the price would be relatively high.
"We mainly provide seven-day service, so chefs are more willing to accept orders. If you only order one or two meals like this, the chefs will have to run around, earn less, and are not willing to take it. " Manager Liang said.
Changing jobs to be a cook during the Spring Festival is called "the lifestyle of young people has changed"
Ms. Zhao, a 42-year-old native of Jilin, used to do furniture business. Due to the depression of the company, she changed careers and got a new job around 202 1. Last December 28th, she just "landed" from the last customer. After a day off on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, she went to work as a "cook" at Mr. Sun's house in Heilongjiang.
"Because I traveled all over the country in my early years and liked to study cooking, I am familiar with the northern and southern cuisines." Ms. Zhao said that the orders were all delivered by domestic companies, but she used the "gap period" to temporarily work as a "cook" full-time.
Zhao Nvshi is cheerful. She spoke frankly about the original intention of doing this job because she needed money. "I have a son and a daughter, the older one is in high school and the younger one is in junior high school. Although the elderly at home are in good health, they are still short of money in general. "
Ms. Zhao said that she was responsible for 14 meals for seven days, and each meal was basically around 10 dishes. "After all, people have a family reunion dinner. It is my duty to cook with conscience and make people eat comfortably. " She said that she had made a rough calculation. Apart from the success of the company, she can earn more than 4000 yuan in seven days. "Fortunately, this customer is generous, and I can go home and reunite with my family every night."
For customers, Ms. Zhao said that the orders she received were all young people. "It's not that young people don't know how to save, but also ask people to cook. This is a way for young people to be filial. " Ms. Zhao said that many young people can't cook now, and they want to be filial during the New Year and let the elderly relax. I used to eat takeout and restaurants on weekdays, but because of my limited cooking skills, I had no choice but to invite people home to cook.
Ms. Zhao said that young people's understanding of money is different from that of the previous generation. They believe that as long as they buy comfort, the money is worth it. As a service industry, it is our aim to do things according to our conscience and let our customers' families live comfortably and happily.
Ms. Zhao's client, Mr. Sun, said that there were nannies cooking at home on weekdays, but they hired them when they came home on holiday during the Spring Festival. "The family feels very comfortable this Spring Festival, which saves the time of cooking and cleaning in the kitchen. Family members who come back from all over the world can chat, play mahjong and exchange feelings. Xiao Zhao is also very professional, and his cooking is delicious. This money is still worth it. "
Some people spend more than 7000 yuan in 7 days to invite chefs to their homes.
Mr. Huang is 29 years old and is engaged in the technology development industry in Beijing. This year's Spring Festival, he invited a master of Hunan cuisine to cook at home. "The master is only responsible for eating every day, with 8 dishes for a meal, for a total of 7 days. Counting the food and taxi fare for the master, I spent more than 7,000 yuan." Mr. Huang said that his grandfather worked in Hunan for many years when he was young and had a strong affection for Hunan cuisine. This door-to-door chef is actually for grandpa.
"I can't cook. My mother used to be the' chef' in the family. Because she fell and hurt her hip last year, she couldn't stand for a long time. And who doesn't drink on New Year's Eve? I drank with my dad, where can I find a driver? " Mr. Huang said that for various reasons, he booked a master of Hunan cuisine one month before the Chinese New Year.
He said that at first, parents strongly opposed asking chefs to cook at home. On the one hand, they think they can do it, on the other hand, they think they can eat in any restaurant without paying a lot of money for a chef. "But my grandfather is 80 years old this year. What should I do if he gets sick after going out? It's not worth the candle. It's not good for me to cook with my dad. It's a long story. " Mr. Huang said that his parents were thrifty all their lives, and he just wanted to make it easy for them to spend the next year in his own way.
"And it's not a waste to eat new dishes at night and hot leftovers at noon the next day." Mr. Huang told the reporter of Beiqing Daily that he thought that the 7,000 yuan was well spent and met the needs of all parties. The only drawback is that he lied to his parents that the chef was an unemployed chef and spent only 3000 yuan in seven days. "I dare not tell my mother, for fear that she will feel distressed. But I think making money is for consumption. Spending more money and making your family happy is more important than anything else. " He said.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Wang