This Indian chef says he is making his entire month's salary from one Instagram video but for him it’s just a tool

• Thomas Zacharias or TZac, a professional chef of 15 years, is now exploring his food journey on Instagram.
• Started off with videos as a way to comfort people, TZac told Business Insider that he ended up making an entire month’s salary from just one Instagram video.
• TZac plans to use this medium to make people aware of their heritage, cuisine and culture through food.

Instagram is one place that can serve as a platform for people to express who they are, show off their work and also earn through it.

Despite its algorithm that shows content based on recommendations and the people you mostly engage with, Instagram has given birth to many creators and businesses who now rely on it as their primary source of income. For this Indian chef, an Instagram video earned him an entire month’s salary that he would otherwise get through 15 hours in the kitchen.

Meet Thomas Zacharias or popularly known by his alias “TZac”, a professional chef of 15 years from Mumbai. TZac was a chef at The Bombay Canteen and is now “working towards making a deeper intervention within our food system in India for a brighter, more delicious future,” according to his Instagram bio. TZac while speaking at the Future of Work Summit 2021 said that he still can’t come to terms with making a month’s salary through just one Instagram video.

“I never did monetary social media collaborations until a year ago. I found out that in one collaboration in a recipe video I was making the same money that I made in a month of toiling for 16 hours a day and running a team of 30 people. And I still can’t come to terms with that but it’s a reflection of the credibility and brand that I built for myself over the past 10 years,” TZac said.

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TZac’s “influencer” journey on Instagram began during the start of the pandemic last year when he started sharing videos and engaging with his followers on Instagram. “I realised that while I was cooking this might be valuable and helpful to a lot of people who especially at the start of the pandemic were looking for some sort of comfort in their lives. That’s primarily where they (videos) came from,” he said.


He is now using Instagram as a platform to share his views about food which are mostly on celebrating regional Indian food, exploring local indigenous ingredients, and getting people to be more conscious about what they’re eating, their heritage, culture and cuisine.

TZac also tries to stay grounded and not get completely looped into the social media influencer world. “I know that it’s important to keep up but I don’t want to lose myself in the process so there’s a fine balance between sticking to the times but also staying rooted in what my own purpose, goal or drive is,” he said.

Having been a professional for 15 years, TZac now wants to explore other ways through which he can “change the world through food and bring impact” but still remain rooted to his true cause.

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