Chef / Vendor Agreement

Last updated: not yet set: last updated date · Effective: not yet set: effective date

Draft — not legal advice. Review with a licensed attorney before use. Align payout, tax, and Stripe Connect terms with your actual Stripe agreements and local food‑business law.

This Chef/Vendor Agreement ("Agreement") applies to any user who lists, sells, or offers food or catering on LocalCooking — individual cooks, cooking teams, and food companies ("Vendor," "you"). It supplements and incorporates the Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy, and other policies. If it conflicts with the general Terms for Vendor matters, this Agreement controls.

1. Independent status

You are an independent business, not our employee, agent, partner, or joint venturer. You control how you prepare and provide food. Nothing here creates an employment or agency relationship, except that we act as your limited payment collection agent to accept customer payments on your behalf.

2. Eligibility, licensing, and food safety

You represent and warrant, on an ongoing basis, that you:

• Hold and maintain all licenses, permits, registrations, certifications, and inspections required to prepare and sell food where you operate (including any cottage‑food or home‑kitchen requirements), and will provide proof on request;
• Comply with all applicable food‑safety, labeling, allergen‑disclosure, health, consumer‑protection, and tax laws;
• Prepare, store, package, and hand off food safely and at correct temperatures (matching the hot/refrigerated/frozen handling of each listing); and
• Do not list prohibited items (see the AUP) or sell alcohol or other regulated products without separate licensing and our written approval.

You are solely responsible for the food you provide and for any illness, injury, allergen exposure, or harm arising from it.

3. Listings and accuracy

You are responsible for accurate listings — descriptions, ingredients, known major allergens, prices, stock, availability, preparation type, and delivery method. You must promptly update or remove listings that are unavailable or inaccurate.

4. Orders, reservations, and catering

• You must fulfill orders you accept and honor reservations/catering terms you agree to, or promptly communicate and refund when you cannot.
• Where the Platform requires your approval for orders that exceed your capacity or arrive while you are off‑shift, you are responsible for timely responses.
• Catering pricing is set by agreement between you and the customer; any "recommended" price is an estimate only.

5. Fees, pricing, and payouts

• You set your listing prices. Our platform fee is $1.50 per item — a fixed amount, not a percentage, whatever the item costs. Payment‑processing fees are charged by Stripe and passed through; they are Stripe's, not ours. We may change our fee on reasonable notice. A worked example of what you receive on a sale is at What cooks pay.
• Customer payments are collected through Stripe; your payouts are made via Stripe Connect, subject to Stripe's Connected Account Agreement, which you must accept and keep in good standing. Payouts may be held for a period to cover refunds, chargebacks, and disputes, and may be reduced or reversed accordingly.
• You are responsible for your own taxes. Tax forms are issued by Stripe, not by us: in the U.S., Stripe provides any Form 1099‑K for your payouts through your Stripe Express dashboard, and collects the tax information it needs when you set up payouts. We may withhold where legally required.

6. Refunds, disputes, and chargebacks

Refunds and disputes are handled under the Refund & Cancellation Policy. You authorize us to refund customers and to reverse or offset corresponding payouts where a refund, chargeback, or policy violation applies. You are responsible for chargebacks arising from your fulfillment.

7. Teams and companies

• Teams: owners and members are responsible for their roles; revenue and labor splits are configured by the team and settled through payouts. Team owners are responsible for their members' compliance.
• Companies: company directory listings are informational (outbound links) and are subject to review/approval; you must have the right to represent the business and must not impersonate one you don't control.

8. Reviews and reputation

Ratings and reviews reflect customer experiences. You must not manipulate reviews (e.g., fake or incentivized reviews, self‑reviews, or retaliation).

9. Insurance

To take an in‑home booking you must have liability insurance on file with us; the platform will not let one be agreed without it. not yet set: any further insurance required of cooks (coverage and limits)

10. Indemnification and liability

You will indemnify and hold harmless not yet set: company legal name and its affiliates from claims arising out of your food, your listings, your acts or omissions, or your breach of this Agreement or the law (including food‑safety and allergen claims). Our liability to you is limited as stated in the Terms of Service.

11. Suspension and termination

We may delist content, suspend, or terminate your Vendor access and withhold or reverse payouts for violations, safety concerns, legal requirements, or risk to users. You may stop listing at any time; obligations for completed and in‑progress transactions survive.

12. Changes

We may update this Agreement on reasonable notice. Continued listing or selling after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

13. Contact

Vendor support: not yet set: support email · not yet set: company legal name, not yet set: mailing address.