The Sims 4 has never shied away from food-based items in its expansions, and Home Chef Hustle marks a valiant return to Stuff Packs. Among other additions that came with the pack, your Sims are now able to step behind the counter and run their very own food stall to sell their culinary creations.
Whether you choose to specialize in the new pizzas or tasty waffles, or opt to expand on your expansions and see what else you can mark for sale, we’ve got everything you’ll need to run a successful food stall in The Sims 4: Home Chef Hustle.
How To Start Selling Food At A Food Stall
Before you can run a food stand in The Sims 4, you’ll need to purchase your actual stand itself.
The Anywhere Any Fare Food Stand is available for 585 Simoleons and comes in a variety of colors, woods, and designs, so experiment with the design tool and see what speaks to your Sim and their brand.
Once you own your food stand, you can either sell from your home lot to attract customers from the neighborhood, or choose to travel with the food stand and set up shop on a public lot to sell in a more populated area.
Prep Ingredients To Make Food Faster
By using the Ciao Bella Stand Mixer introduced in the Home Chef Hustle stuff pack, your Sim is able to prepare cooking ingredients and assorted doughs ahead of time.
Doing so not only makes your food cook faster than normal, but it’ll also typically end up being of a higher quality and costing less to prepare, too.
Prepared foods go into your inventory, and you’ll receive five servings of ingredients per prep. These can then be used in your regular cooking, but dishes can still be prepared without these ingredients if you’re willing to sacrifice quality and cash for speed.
Bring Countertop Appliances To Cook On-Site
The September 2023 update allows Sims to put smaller, countertop cookware including the new pizza oven, plenty of microwave ovens, and more.
If you put these items in your inventory before going to open your food stall, your Sim will be able to cook on-site at their stall.
This is critical to serving food quickly and efficiently as your popularity increases.
You Can Sell Foods From Other Packs
Avid Simmers are likely to have multiple packs that include unique food items coming from countertop appliances, and these players will be happy to know that food from various packs that’s prepared in a countertop appliance are available to sell with the Home Chef Hustle stuff pack.
The baked goods introduced with the Baking skill in Get to Work offer a new way to run a bakery, while items like popcorn or ice cream from other stuff packs are available for sale, too.
How To Run A Food Stand In Home Chef Hustle
Put Down The Food Stall And Open Up Shop
After purchasing your stand and the small appliances you’ll need to operate, it’s time to open for business. To do so, place your food stand from your Sim’s inventory. Once you’ve found a good spot, right-click “Open.”
This brings up the shop’s inventory, alongside your Sim’s inventory. Here, you can drag food between your inventory and the store’s inventory to mark dishes for sale. You could also choose to drag and drop food from your inventory.
Having items in your inventory is helpful for keeping a constant supply, but beware that food spoils quickly in your inventory, so be sure to mark it for sale as soon as you can for maximum freshness.
After your inventory is set, click the stand again to Start Food Sale. This triggers a five-hour event during which your Sim will be hawking their goods to any passers-by at their chosen location.
You can also choose a markup for your items of up to 300 percent of their original cost, but beware that expensive goods are less likely to sell, so weigh your popularity and product quality before deciding on a markup.
Having the Marketable trait from the Rewards Store increases the limit of this markup to 500 percent instead.
Sell Actively And Keep Your Table Stocked
If Sims are milling about by the stand but aren’t buying anything, your Sim can interact with potential customers to give sales pitches or try to convince them to buy a certain product.
Not only is this helpful if Sims are loitering a bit too much, but it also gives you the option to nudge customers toward certain dishes as you see fit.
If food starts to run out, you can enable AutoStocking to convince your Sim to replenish the table automatically with food from their inventory. But, if your inventory is looking light, you’ll need to use your countertop appliances mid-sale to prep more food on-site.
Using the equipment doesn’t stop your Sim from making sales with the current goods, so feel free to cook as you need without fear of missing a sale on what you’ve currently got in stock.
Just be wary of tending a food stand in inclement weather, as some appliances become broken when using them in the rain.
Gain Charisma In The Base Game, As Well As Entrepreneur Skill With High School Years
Thankfully, you’ll be gaining a bit more than just simoleons after your sales event finishes! All Sims who participate in a food sale will gain some Charisma skill after the food sale has finished.
Additionally, if you’ve got the High School Years expansion pack installed as well, you can use food stands to work toward your Entrepreneur skill.
This is helpful for Sims running their own business of any kind and allows you to progressively get better at selling your Sim and their product.