Why we built it
Hiring a chef in Nigeria has always run on word of mouth. You ask a friend, someone sends you a WhatsApp number, and you hope for the best. You have no way to check whether the person cooking at your daughter's wedding trained anywhere, or whether the photos they sent are their own work.
The same problem runs in the other direction. A chef with years of training and a real certificate has nowhere to put it. They send the same food photos to every new client, rebuild their pitch in every conversation, and too often get compared on price alone.
Chefmark fixes one specific thing: it puts a chef's training, experience and actual food in one place a client can check before any money changes hands.
Hiring a chef
Search by what you need and where you are. You can look for private chefs, event caterers, wedding and corporate chefs, weekly meal preparation, cakes and pastry, and chefs who specialise in Nigerian, continental, vegan and grill cooking.
A chef's profile shows their photo, the food they have cooked, their experience, the services they offer, the areas they cover and any training they list. All of that is free to read, and you do not need an account for it.
When you want to reach chefs, a ₦25,000 pass gives you 30 days to message any chef on Chefmark, send hire requests and see their phone number, WhatsApp and email. One payment covers every chef, not one per chef, so you can talk to three or four and compare before you decide.
If you change your mind within 24 hours and haven't contacted a chef yet, you get your money back in full.
Chefs set their own rates and you agree terms with them directly. Chefmark is not a booking agent and takes no cut of the job.
Listing your profile as a chef
A Chefmark profile costs ₦20,000 a year. You get your own page with its own web address, which you can share with clients. It holds your photo, your portfolio, your experience, your specialities and your training.
It also comes with the business documents most chefs end up making by hand: invoices that add themselves up, receipts, quotes, letterhead, a business card with a code that opens your profile, and a CV built from what you have already entered.
Your phone number, WhatsApp and email stay private. Only clients with an active pass can see them, which means the people who reach you have already paid to do it.
Looking for a chef
Browse first, pay later
Search by city and speciality, read every profile free, and pay only when you want to make contact.
Find a chefCooking for a living
Put your profile up
₦20,000 a year for your profile, your portfolio and your business documents. No commission.
Join as a chefWhat the verified badge means
Verification is optional. A chef who chooses it sends us their culinary certificate and a government ID, and we check that they match before adding the verified badge, the blue tick, to their profile. It is a check on training and identity.
It is not a rating of how well someone cooks, it is not a review score, and it is not a guarantee of the booking. Those remain between you and the chef. A chef can list a profile without a certificate; they simply won't carry the badge.
Abuja Culinary School graduates can upload their certificate to get the badge, like any other chef.
Who runs Chefmark
Chefmark is run by Abuja Culinary School, a registered Nigerian company (RC 1965533). The school trains chefs in Abuja, and Chefmark started with the school's own graduates.
That is also why the platform is built the way it is. We knew the chefs before we built the directory, and we knew what they were missing.
Chefmark is now open to any working chef, caterer or baker in Nigeria, whether they trained at the school or not.
Where you can find chefs
Chefs can list from anywhere in Nigeria. Chefmark started in Abuja.
Common questions
Is Chefmark free to use?
Searching and reading profiles is free and needs no account. A ₦25,000 pass lets you message any chef, send hire requests and see contact details for 30 days. Chefs pay ₦20,000 a year to be listed.
Who can join as a chef?
Any working chef, caterer or baker in Nigeria. A certificate isn't needed to list a profile, but a chef can add one at any time to get the verified badge. Abuja Culinary School graduates can upload their certificate to get the badge, like any other chef.
Does Chefmark take a commission?
No. Chefs keep everything they earn. The yearly listing fee is the only thing a chef pays.
Is my phone number public?
No. A chef's phone number, WhatsApp and email are hidden from the public and shown only to clients with an active 30-day pass.
Who owns Chefmark?
Abuja Culinary School, a registered Nigerian company, RC 1965533. You can reach the team on WhatsApp at 0707 012 5606.
Something else? WhatsApp 07070125606