The Prep List
Start and scale a profitable food business with insights from Hotplate’s blog
Holiday HQ
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Coming back to Hotplate for the holidays, or starting fresh? Here’s everything to do before your first holiday drop, in order.
Haven’t logged in for a while? Welcome back. Here’s what’s new on Hotplate, plus a quick refresher on how to take preorders and run your first holiday drop.
Everything you need to sell food this holiday season, all in one place. Whether you’re coming back to Hotplate, running your first drop or already selling, start here for checklists, menu ideas and stories from chefs going beyond the classics.
The holidays are the best time of year to sell your food. Customers are hosting, gifting and celebrating, and they’re ready to spend on something homemade. Here’s why this season is worth it, and how to make it work without spending the whole season in your kitchen.
Holiday advice
Chasing payments, overselling, and orders lost in DMs. Here are five holiday horror stories chefs struggle with before switching to Hotplate.
The holidays are better together. Here's how collab drops help chefs reach each other's customers, without the busywork of splitting the money afterwards.
Holiday markets bring you a crowd. Pop-up Mode helps you keep them, by turning every walk-up into a subscriber who hears about your next drop.
You don't have to sell pies to have a great holiday season. Here are non-pie items Hotplate chefs are making instead, and how to bring the season to your own menu.
Your holiday menu is ready. Now let's get it in front of people. Seven simple ways to market your holiday drop, on Instagram and in real life.
Holiday chef spotlights
There are no Kenyan restaurants in LA, so cookbook author Kiano Moju started serving the food herself. Here’s how she built Jikoni, a preorder-only culinary studio, instead of a restaurant.
San Francisco’s Butter and Crumble sold 150 Thanksgiving pies in minutes. Sophie Smith on why she switched to Hotplate for holiday preorders.
Self-taught chef Marlon “Chicken” Williams sold out his Thanksgiving drop on Hotplate in 13 minutes, making $70,000. Here’s how he set it up.
Starting Your Business
Meet the Chefs
Self-taught chef Marlon “Chicken” Williams sold out his Thanksgiving drop on Hotplate in 13 minutes, making $70,000. Here’s how he set it up.
Microbakery May
Microbakery May
Latest posts
Avoid these 5 holiday horror stories
Chasing payments, overselling, and orders lost in DMs. Here are five holiday horror stories chefs struggle with before switching to Hotplate.
5 reasons the holidays are a great time to collab
The holidays are better together. Here's how collab drops help chefs reach each other's customers, without the busywork of splitting the money afterwards.
Tap to Pay at holiday markets: the gift that keeps on giving
Holiday markets bring you a crowd. Pop-up Mode helps you keep them, by turning every walk-up into a subscriber who hears about your next drop.
No pie, no problem: 25+ things chefs are selling for the holidays that aren’t pie
You don't have to sell pies to have a great holiday season. Here are non-pie items Hotplate chefs are making instead, and how to bring the season to your own menu.
7 ways to market your holiday drop
Your holiday menu is ready. Now let's get it in front of people. Seven simple ways to market your holiday drop, on Instagram and in real life.