Before you sell food you make, check five things: how the business is registered for tax, whether you need to register as a food business, what your kitchen has to meet, what your labels must say, and what each place you sell needs from you. The answers depend on your country, your town and how you sell, so this guide does not give you rules or fees. It tells you what to ask, who to ask, and how to build those costs into your price.
What changes depending on how you sell
Be clear about your model before you start asking, because each one raises different questions:
- Stall or shop of your own: premises approval, local licences, inspections.
- Orders from home with delivery: whether your area allows producing at home, under what conditions, and what delivery apps need from you to sign up.
- Packaged products for shops or cafés: labelling, allergen information and any product-specific rules, on top of everything else.
- Markets and events: a pitch permit from the organiser or the council, often with proof of registration and insurance.
If you do more than one, check each. What covers your stall does not always cover your jars on a café shelf.
The five areas to check
1. Business and tax registration
Most places expect you to register as self-employed or as a company and to keep records for tax. Which structure suits you, what you have to declare and when, and whether you need to charge sales tax all depend on your country and your turnover. Check your local tax rules or ask an accountant. Do not copy what a friend did in another country; it may not apply to you.
2. Registering as a food business
Many places require food businesses, including home-based ones, to register with a local or national food safety authority before trading. Ask whether you need to, how far ahead of your first sale, and whether registration leads to an inspection.
3. Your kitchen and premises
Ask what standard your kitchen must meet: surfaces, hand washing, storage, separating raw and cooked food, keeping pets out. Some places allow home kitchens for some products and not others. If you rent a shared commercial kitchen, ask what the kitchen's registration covers and what you need on your own.
4. Food hygiene training and records
Ask whether you or your helpers need a food hygiene course and what records the authority expects you to keep: fridge temperatures, cleaning, suppliers, batches. Written records are what an inspector looks for. A recipe card with weights and steps and a simple batch log go a long way; the guide on making the same product every time shows how to set them up.
5. Labels and product rules
If you sell packaged food, ask what must appear on the label: name, ingredients, allergens, weight, date mark, your details, and any nutrition information. Some products carry extra rules. Check with your food safety authority before you print a thousand labels.
Who to ask
| Question | Who usually answers |
|---|---|
| Do I need to register as a food business? | Local or national food safety authority |
| Can I produce in my home kitchen? | Local council or food safety authority |
| How should the business be set up for tax? | Tax office or an accountant |
| What must my label say? | Food safety or trading standards authority |
| Can I trade at this market? | Market organiser and local council |
| What insurance do I need? | Market organiser, the shops you supply, an insurance broker |
Write the answers down with the date and the name of who told you. Rules change, and "someone at the council said" is hard to check six months later.
Worked example: pricing compliance into a bottle of hot sauce
You make hot sauce and sell 80 bottles a week, 48 weeks a year. Your loaded cost before compliance is $3.60 per bottle and you sell at $9.00.
Add up a year of compliance costs. The figures below are made-up round numbers to show the method. Replace them with your own.
| Cost | Sum | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Registration and renewals | $150.00 | |
| Market pitch permits | 30 market days × $20.00 | $600.00 |
| Public liability insurance | $420.00 | |
| Food hygiene course | $90.00 | |
| Label review | $240.00 | |
| Total | 150 + 600 + 420 + 90 + 240 | $1,500.00 |
Spread it over a year of bottles:
- Bottles per year: 80 × 48 = 3,840
- Compliance per bottle: 1,500 ÷ 3,840 = $0.39
- New loaded cost: 3.60 + 0.39 = $3.99
What it does to your margin:
- Before: (9.00 − 3.60) ÷ 9.00 = 60.0%
- After: (9.00 − 3.99) ÷ 9.00 = 55.7%
Thirty-nine cents a bottle looks small. Leave it out and you think you keep 60% when you keep 55.7%, and the $1,500 comes out of your own pay at the end of the year. If you sold half as many bottles, the same costs would be 1,500 ÷ 1,920 = $0.78 per bottle, which is why compliance costs hit small producers hardest.
When you grow, check again
What you checked at the start stops being enough when the scale changes: moving from your home kitchen to a rented one, hiring help, supplying larger shops or producing in bigger batches. Each of those steps can change your registration, your kitchen requirements and your tax position. The guide to moving to a bigger kitchen covers which numbers to look at before you make that move. Put renewal dates in your calendar and look at them in your weekly business routine. The operations guide brings together the rest: inventory, food safety and records.
Do it with the calculator
Divide your year of compliance costs by the batches you make in a year and add the result to "Gas, power and other per batch" in the food cost calculator alongside your recipe, and see how much they add to the loaded cost of each unit.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell food I make in my home kitchen?
It depends on where you are: the rules vary a lot between countries and even between towns. Ask your local council or food safety authority before you spend money on equipment or packaging.
Do I need to register before my first sale?
Often yes, and some places expect you to register a set time before you start trading. Check with your local food safety authority and tax office before you sell anything, including at a one-off market.
Who checks my kitchen?
Usually the local authority's food safety or environmental health team, but it depends on where you are. They are also the best people to ask what they will want to see on a visit.
Does a market stall need its own permit?
Often it does, from the market organiser, the local council or both. Ask the organiser what they need from you, and keep copies of your registration and insurance with you on the day.