ZeepUp, the Milan-based food discovery and ordering platform, has opened expressions of interest for its founding community of London Home Cooks. ZeepUp will launch its consumer marketplace after it has recruited a strong local network of cooks, so that Londoners see a useful range of food nearby from the day the platform opens.
ZeepUp is looking for home cooks with dishes that people ask them to make again, as well as bakers, small caterers, supper club hosts and professional chefs with spare capacity. Hosts will be able to start with one dish or a small menu and choose their own prices, quantities, order deadlines, days and collection times.
Depending on the host’s chosen model and the requirements that apply to their activity, food can be offered as To-Go, for pre-order and collection at a set time, or as Eat-In, for a meal hosted in the cook’s home. Hosts may choose one format or offer both.
“London is full of people who cook exceptionally well, but opening a restaurant is neither realistic nor desirable for most of them,” said Elisa Bianchi, founder of ZeepUp. “We want to give them a credible way to start small, test demand and build a reputation around food they already know how to make. The consumer launch will follow once we can offer enough quality and local choice to make the platform genuinely useful.”
A marketplace built around the cook
The platform is designed around the host’s real capacity. A cook might offer eight portions on one evening, pause the following week or publish only when available. Each host profile can bring together dishes, short food videos and photos known as Zeeps, information about the cook, order-linked reviews and completed-order history.
ZeepUp will manage orders and payments through the platform and charge a commission on completed orders. The commercial terms will be shown to each host before activation. This gives cooks a way to test demand and build a customer base without committing to the fixed costs of a restaurant.
For consumers, the model is intended to provide an alternative to standard delivery and fast food: genuine food prepared in smaller quantities by an identifiable local cook, ordered ahead and collected at a clear time, or enjoyed in the host’s home when Eat-In is available.
Trust and compliance before activation
ZeepUp is designing the UK onboarding process around identity and activity checks, the documents relevant to each type of food business, clear ingredients and allergen information, and reviews connected to completed orders. A host’s exact address will not be made public and will be shared only when it is needed for a confirmed collection or Eat-In booking.
The platform can explain its onboarding requirements and direct applicants to official guidance, but it does not replace the food safety, registration, tax or other legal obligations that apply to each host.
Who ZeepUp wants to hear from
• Home cooks who want to offer one or more dishes in manageable quantities
• Professional chefs who want to develop an independent project in their available time
• Bakers, food makers and small caterers who already prepare to order
• Supper club hosts who want to offer bookable Eat-In experiences
• Existing registered food businesses that want a new way to be discovered locally
Applicants who are already registered and ready to trade can apply now. People who are not yet registered can also express interest; ZeepUp will explain what it needs for onboarding and point them towards the relevant official steps before activation.
Applications are open across London. Early community outreach will focus on Waltham Forest, Hackney, Islington and Lambeth, with the aim of building enough choice within individual neighbourhoods before opening the consumer marketplace.
“This first phase is about finding the cooks and understanding what they need,” Bianchi added. “We are building density neighbourhood by neighbourhood so that, when Londoners open ZeepUp, there is food nearby that is genuinely worth discovering.”
