Discussion Forums
for the
Personal Chef Industry

I am a culinary arts student researching the personal chef aspect of the foodservice industry. I am interested in knowing how placement agencies calculate and collect fees from personal chefs for the service of being placed with clients.

Kristine,
Forbes magazine just had an article on personal chefs that listed several of the placement agencies.

Seems to me that the article sort of combined personal and private chefs into one group. I could be wrong (someone leap in here, if so) but I don't think that personal chefs are really using placement agencies to a great extent.

Private chefs, on the other hand, definitely do. But, of course, can't help you out with fee schedule, there.

(Private chef being someone who generally cooks for one family, on a daily basis. Personal chefs having anywhere from 7-20 clients, cooked for periodically)

I can't lay my hands on the article right now -- is Forbes on-line? If you can't find it, let me know and I'll see if I can dig it up.

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Meredith
Whisk For Hire
Kensington, MD

Kristine - I agree with Meredith. I don't believe that it would pay a placement agency to try to place a personal chef because the fee is usually in multiples of the first monts salary. That being the case, they would realize very little form placing one of us.

Interesting question, though, I just wonder if it could be done?

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Jim Davis
The Really Good Food Co.
A Personal Chef Service

The "placement" agencies listed in the Forbes article are actually alumni placement services for culinary school grads. We are working with the alumni group at Peter Kump's Cooking School in NYC and others to satisfy the needs of culinary school grads who wish to pursue the Personal Chef Industry as an alternative to institutional cooking. The article also listed the 2 national associations as well.

Today I heard that Bob Hope was home from the hospital and enjoying a meal prepared by his Personal Chef...I am willing to bet they meant PRIVATE Chef, but I am hearing the two terms mixed up more and more often. That's why we need to continue to educate the media as to what and who we are... Candy