Food Columnist and blogger Pooja Sangani has blogged extensively about the food of home chefs. She tells FEA about how blogging can support the business of home chefs.
FEA: What do you think of the rising demand for food prepared by home chefs?
Pooja: According to me “My kitchen My Rules” will be the revolutionary slogan for all home chefs these days. The concept of a Home chef is very empowering. They cater to the growing demand for regional cuisine, healthy food, organic meals, customized vegan or gluten-free meals, and so forth, which widens the food experience of food lovers. This is revolutionizing the food scene in Ahmedabad.
FEA What inspired to review food of the home chefs?
Pooja: Being a home cook and passionate foodie since childhood I could get along well with home chefs.I am fascinated by the home chefs’ deep passion for cooking, their hard work and their commitment to serve the best food. Thus, I decided to write on their culinary skills to raise awareness in society about these passionate home chefs. I love to support them, encourage them, enhance their skills with new ideas and help them to take new initiatives in this field.
FEA: What can be the role of food bloggers in promoting home chefs?
Pooja: Bloggers can play a key role in creating awareness about home food providers. Bloggers should listen to the home chefs, understand their passion and commitment to providing the right food, and then express these sentiments in their writing.
It should not be a one-time commitment. Bloggers with their thoughts leadership will target new audiences too. For example, many people are interested to explore different cuisines. If an individual wants to experience the culture, try new recipes, or simply explore tempting bites from the best home chefs of the city with their creative food, the blogs can direct them to the right home chef to order from.
FEA: Your influencer marketing and social media tips for home chefs?
Pooja: Home chefs can take the help of bloggers to curate menu cards and design posters, banners and flyers, highlighting any offers, discounts or promotions they may have on a regular basis, with good content. These can be carried as posts, stories and reels to catch the attention of potential customers. They can also be part of WhatsApp forwards and status. Short videos can also help.
It is important that home chefs respond to any comments, query or feedback they receive on social media. The engaged audience is more likely to become a customer.
FEA: Which is your favourite post or article about home-based entrepreneurs?
Pooja: I wrote an article last year about food styling queens where I showcased the plating and presentation of Gujarat’s home chefs, who decorate simple normal food so well that the dishes look like decorative pieces of art. It was my favorite piece and was well-received by readers.
FEA: Any review that gives you special satisfaction?
Pooja: Whenever I have written about a home chef, I have received good feedback from them. One of them said, “it feels like it’s our birthday today. Our phone rings the whole day with several inquiries and orders’’.
I wrote a blog post about home chef Ritvija Mehta’s tiffin service. It was much appreciated. She called to thank me and say that she was so overloaded with orders she had to say no to some customers. This gives me satisfaction that during the hard times of the Covid-19 Second Wave in Ahmedabad I was a helping hand to home chefs.
FEA: What is your advice to aspiring bloggers?
Pooja: My simple advice to any aspiring blogger is to focus on writing skills. Editing photos, using the right tools, figuring out how to do SEO, and all the million other things involved in having a blog are window-dressing for the blogs, but they are not as important as the writing.
