Tuesday, October 13, 2020

ZIPHOMECHEF Aims Efforts At Expanding Local Microkitchens

Riverside-based ZIPHOMECHEF, a startup which helps enable licensed, microenterprise home kitchen operations (MEHKO), says it is looking to help create jobs and deliver meals to local communities in Riverside County, California. The company--led by CEO Alexia Parks--says it helps people get licensed and to set up their own home kitchens, and hopes to expand from one kitchen in Riverside to 100 kitchens. The startup says it started this summer with one employee and now has 17 new hires, and is cooking meals for clients through a a countywide multi-agency program called Project Roomkey. The startup says it has so far delivered over 50,000 meals over the past two months. MEHKO's were created in a 2018 law (AB 626 and AB 377), allowing restaurants to be created in a private residence, operated by a resident as long as they are following specific state rules and hold specific food handling licenses.