Starting A New Food Business
When starting a new food business it is very
important to get things right at the start. Mistakes early on
can turn out to be costly. Good food hygiene helps prevent
food poisoning and protects your reputation with customers.
What Do I Need to Do to Start My Food Business?
- Register your premises. Register for free at
least 28 days before opening.
Go to the
Registration Page.
- The design and construction of your premises
must meet legal requirement. Contact us for further
information or to arrange for an officer to make an advisory
visit.
- Waste and recycling collections need to be
arranged. Waste oil must not be put with your other waste. It
must be removed by an approved contractor - removal is usually free
of charge.
- Food safety management procedures must be set
up - decide which food safety records you will need to keep. Go to
our Safer
Food Better Business page for a free food safety
management system which you could use.
- Staff training must be adequate for business –
make sure you and your staff understand the principles of good food
hygiene. Go to our Food Safety Training page for more
information.
- Health and safety and fire safety arrangements
must be adequate. Go to our Health and Safety page for more
information.
- A licence may be needed if you intend:
- selling alcohol
- putting on public entertainment
- selling hot food and drink late at night
- selling food on the street
Go to our Licensing
page for further information.
- Food Labelling and Weights and Measures information
must be accurate. When Food is sold loose, the labelling
requirements are generally relatively basic. However, when foods
are pre-packed away from the consumer and destined for sale then
full food labelling is usually required. In both cases the food
must also accurately meet is description, some foods also require a
legal compositional level to be met and they may also need to be
sold by quantity. Please see our Trading
Standards page for further information.
- Planning permission may be needed if
you:
- want to change the way a premises is used
- make major changes to the structure of a premises
- install a ventilation stack to the building.
Go to our Planning page for further information.
- Business Rates – ensure you are registered
with Cheshire East Council for Business Rates. Go to our
Business Rates
page.
Want to Know More?
For further advice, contact us using the
contact details at the bottom of the page.
Also the Food Standards Agency has produced a
booklet for new food businesses. The booklet,
Starting Up – Your first step to running a catering
business, is available in English and other languages from
the Food Standards Agency website.
