Terms of use

1. Who we are

avokaza (Lisbon, Portugal). The company is being registered; its name, tax number and address will be published here before any paid visit takes place. Contact: [email protected].

avokaza is an introduction and coordination service. We connect families with independent home cooks who cook in the family's own kitchen. We are not a restaurant, a caterer or an employment agency, and we do not sell or deliver food.

2. Who can register

You must be at least 18 years old. The details you give must be true and your own. Register only yourself, never another person without their permission.

Cooks must be allowed to work in Portugal, or be in the process of getting that right (for example under temporary protection), and must tell us honestly which applies. You can register while your authorisation is being processed, but we only offer visits once you are allowed to work.

3. What registering means

We will contact you by phone or by the messenger you chose. Especially in the first months we may not be able to offer every family a cook, or every cook work, and we do not promise either.

Prices on the site (for example the €85 trial visit, the €50 short visit and the €65 founding-family price) are the prices we plan to charge at launch. The founding-family price is our promise to families registered before launch, for their first 4-hour visit. You always see and confirm the exact price before you book; nothing is ever charged without your confirmation.

You can cancel your registration at any time by writing to [email protected] or replying to any message from us.

4. Cooks: your status and checks

Cooks work as independent professionals, not as employees of avokaza or of the families. You decide which visits you accept, which days you work and the hourly pay you ask for. You are responsible for declaring your income and for your own tax and Social Security obligations (for example through recibos verdes or ato isolado). We explain the options and help you get started, but we do not give tax advice.

Before your first visit we ask for: an identity document, a criminal record certificate (certificado de registo criminal) issued in the last 3 months, and a short video or phone interview. We may also ask for a trial cooking session and references. We decide whether to work with a cook based on these checks and never on age, nationality, origin, religion, disability or any other protected characteristic.

Work accident insurance (seguro de acidentes de trabalho) is mandatory for independent workers in Portugal, and every visit will also be covered by liability insurance (seguro de responsabilidade civil) for accidental damage in the family's home. avokaza arranges both before bookings open; their cost is included in the price families pay and never taken from the cook's pay. No cook is sent to a family without them.

5. Cooks: the rules in a family's home

• Hygiene and food safety. Wash your hands, keep raw and cooked food apart, cool food quickly and store it safely, and label every dish you leave with its name, the date and how to keep it. Do not cook if you have had vomiting, diarrhoea or fever in the last 48 hours, or have an infected cut on your hands: tell us and we will find a replacement.
• Allergies. Read the family's allergy and diet notes before every visit. If you are not sure an ingredient is safe, don't use it, and ask. Tell the family every ingredient of a dish when they ask.
• Privacy. The home, the family and everything you see there are private. No photos or videos of the family, the children or the home, and nothing about them on social media, unless the family agrees in writing. Photos of your dishes are fine if no people or personal details are visible.
• Honesty. Use the family's groceries only for their cooking, keep the receipt for everything you buy for them, and never take anything from the home.
• No alcohol or drugs before or during a visit. No smoking in the home or on the property unless the family allows it.
• You, in person. Never send someone in your place, and don't bring anyone with you without the family's agreement.
• Children and pets. You are there to cook. You are not in charge of children or pets unless that is agreed separately; an adult of the family stays responsible for them.
• On time. Arrive at the agreed time. If you must cancel, tell us at least 24 hours before, except in an emergency.

Breaking these rules can lead to removal from avokaza. Theft, violence, harassment, or knowingly putting someone's health at risk means immediate removal, and we may report it to the authorities.

6. Cooks: pay, groceries and travel

The service terms that apply when bookings open will set out exactly how and when you are paid. What we plan: every visit is paid at the hourly rate you agreed for it, through avokaza, into your bank account the day after the visit; short visits include the trip supplement shown when you register.

If a family asks you to shop, avokaza pays for the groceries in advance, so you never use your own money; you bring back the receipt and any change, and the shopping time is paid. A taxi or ride-hailing trip is refunded against the receipt if avokaza agreed to it before the trip. Costs not agreed in advance are not refunded.

7. Families: what we ask of you

• Allergies and diet. Tell us and the cook about every allergy, intolerance and diet need in your household before the visit, and keep it up to date. Cooks take great care, but a home kitchen is not an allergen-free kitchen.
• A safe kitchen. Give the cook a clean, working kitchen with the cookware needed, and tell us about anything dangerous, such as a faulty hob.
• Someone at home. An adult (18+) of your household lets the cook in, or you agree access with us in advance. Keep pets out of the kitchen if the cook asks.
• Respect. Harassment, discrimination or unsafe working conditions end the service immediately.
• Groceries. If you buy them, have them ready when the visit starts. If the cook shops, you pay the receipt in full plus the shopping fee shown when you book.
• Cancelling. When bookings open, cancelling up to 24 hours before a visit will be free. A later cancellation may be charged, because the cook kept that time for you. The exact rules will be in the booking terms.
• After the visit. Storing and reheating the food (fridge, freezer) is your responsibility. The cook labels each dish with the date and how to keep it.

8. Working together outside avokaza

We put time and money into finding, checking and matching cooks and families. For 12 months after avokaza introduces you, please arrange visits with that cook or family through avokaza, and talk to us first if you would like to agree something directly. This does not apply to people who knew each other before avokaza, and cooks remain free to work for anyone else.

9. Photos and texts you send us

You may send us a photo and a description of your cooking and your dishes. You confirm that they are yours and true, and that a photo shows only you, or people who agreed to it. Do not send photos of other people's children, identity documents or anything offensive. We may refuse or remove any content.

You allow avokaza to use this content, with your first name and the initial of your surname, to build your cook profile and show it to families, and, only if you agree separately, in advertising. This permission is free and not exclusive, and you can withdraw it at any time: we then remove the content from our website within 7 days and stop using it in any new advertising. We remove location data from uploaded photos.

10. Using this website

Do not misuse the website: no fake registrations, no automated collection of content, no attempts to break into it or overload it. Cook profiles shown before launch are examples and are marked as such.

11. Our responsibility

We take reasonable care when checking cooks and families, but we cannot guarantee how any person behaves or that a registration leads to a visit. Nothing in these terms limits your rights as a consumer under Portuguese and EU law, or our liability for death or personal injury caused by our fault, or for wilful misconduct, gross negligence or fraud. Within those limits, and while registration is free, we are not liable for indirect losses.

12. Changes and ending

We may update these terms, for example when bookings open. If a change matters to you, we tell you before it applies, and you can end your registration. You can end your registration at any time; we may end a registration that breaks these terms.

13. Law and complaints

These terms are governed by Portuguese law. Please write to us first at [email protected]; we answer within 5 working days. You can also use the electronic complaints book at livroreclamacoes.pt.

If you are a consumer, you can take a dispute to a consumer arbitration centre, for example the Centro de Arbitragem de Conflitos de Consumo de Lisboa or CNIACC (cniacc.pt), or to the courts of your place of residence.

These terms exist in Portuguese, English, Russian and Ukrainian. If the versions differ, the Portuguese version applies.