DishDivvy: RIP Defunct Platform for Cooks

DishDivvy Review:

DishDivvy allowed home cooks the ability to market their home-cooked meals for sale. It gave them total control over what to make, when, and what to charge. And the site provided advice, quality control, marketing and payment collection.

Unfortunately, this wonderful home-cooked meal service folded in 2024. 

Now, if you’re looking for a way to make money making meals, we’d recommend that you check out Shef, CozyMeal, Tastemade or EatWith. (You can find our reviews of those sites by clicking on the links.

The information below shows how the site once worked, just for edification. We’ve eliminated links to the site for obvious reasons.

How it worked

If you wanted to sign up to cook with DishDivvy, you would fill out an application with your name and contact information. The site will ask whether you have a “food handler card.” If you don’t, it will help you get the requisite training and information to get one. (These are required of home cooks in California, where DishDivvy operates.)

The site will also set up either an in-person or online kitchen inspection and, possibly, a taste-test. You’ll also get help and training on how to price and package your meals. And the site can guide you on how to photograph your food to make it look irresistible.

At that point, you can create a listing that explains the meal you have to sell, when it’s available and what it costs. Meals can be picked up by the client in person, or delivered via DoorDash. If they’re delivered, customers pay an additional fee for that service.

What we like

A handful of factors set DishDivvy apart. First, while the site is young and only available in a few cities, that small scale has allowed the owners to be hands-on with their cooks. DishDivvy helps cooks price their meals, take professional photographs, shop effectively and market their service.

DishDivvy also launched an affiliate program that provides incentives for cooks and clients to recommend dishes for sale on the platform. That’s likely to drive more business to cooks. They can also earn money with other activities, such as uploading new menu items.

Smart technology

DishDivvy also provides a smart “order cut-off,” which precludes last-minute orders that could leave cooks scrambling. Cooks say what the preparation time is for each meal and the order cut-off ensures that no one can order that meal without giving you at least that amount of time to prepare it.

You can also indicate your daily inventories for each dish, so that you can operate at comfortable order volumes for your own kitchen capacity.

Payments and fees

When dishes are ordered, DishDivvy collects payment and passes it on to you via direct deposit as soon as the food is delivered. The only cost to you, the cook, is a 15% platform fee deducted from each order.

Obviously, the amount you earn here is going to depend on both your pricing and the popularity of your dishes. However, DishDivvy says the average home cook earns between $25 and $45 per hour on the platform.

Recommendations

We loved this site for home cooks. However, it was only available in Los Angeles and San Francisco…and now, not at all.

If you live elsewhere — or want to cook with multiple side hustle platforms — other sites to consider are Shef, which operates in California, New York, Chicago, Houston and Seattle and EatWith, which offers in-home dining experiences. Tastemade and CozyMeal also help chefs offer cooking classes and other gastronomic events.

What their users say:

“They’re very supportive and provide a lot of information about how you can prepare meals in a more time and cost-effective way.”

“I don’t know if  you can make a lot of money right now, but you can certainly make enough to be satisfied with the outcome.”

Updated 8/16/2024