How to Start a Small Business from Your Mesa Kitchen: Food Hygiene and Licensing Basics

Some of the best food businesses start on a domestic hob. A tray of brownies for the neighbours becomes a market stall; a Saturday curry club becomes a weekly takeaway run. The cooking is rarely the hard part. What trips people up is the paperwork — and the fact that a home kitchen is treated, in law, much like any other food premises.

None of it is complicated, but the order matters.

Register with your council before you sell a single item

Every food business in the UK must register with the local authority where its premises are based — for you, usually the council covering your home address. Registration is free, it cannot be refused, and it must be done at least 28 days before you start trading. You can do it online in a few minutes.

Two things people get wrong. First, you register the premises, not yourself, so if you later move production to a rented kitchen, tell both councils. Second, there is no threshold of seriousness — selling one cake to a stranger counts. Occasional one-off events are treated differently, so check with the council rather than assuming.

Once registered, you'll hear from an environmental health officer (EHO). Many home businesses get a questionnaire or a phone call first; a visit is common but not automatic. Treat it as advice rather than an ambush. Officers deal with home kitchens constantly, and most would rather help you get it right than shut you down.

Get your kitchen inspection-ready

An EHO assessing a domestic kitchen is looking for evidence that you can produce food safely at the volume you're claiming, and that you understand the risks of what you make. You don't need a professional kitchen. You do need separation and hygiene you can demonstrate.

A hand-wash basin with hot and cold running water, soap and paper towels, used for nothing else. A second sink for food and equipment is ideal; if you only have one, be ready to explain how you manage it.
Fridges and freezers with working thermometers — chilled food at 5°C or below, frozen at -18°C — and a log to prove you check them.
Separate storage for raw meat and ready-to-eat food, with raw items covered and kept below everything else.
Surfaces, boards and utensils that can be cleaned and disinfected, ideally colour-coded.
Pest control that's actually thought about: no gaps, no open dry goods, bins with lids, and a routine.
Pets, children and everyday clutter out of the way while you're producing.

Also worth having ready: a written cleaning schedule, supplier receipts, and a plain explanation of how you keep raw and cooked work apart in a small space. That last point comes up in almost every home-kitchen inspection.

Food hygiene training: what you actually need

There is no single certificate the law demands. What the law requires is that anyone handling food is supervised, instructed and trained to a level matching their work — and that you can prove it. In practice, the recognised benchmark is a Level 2 award in Food Safety in Catering, available online and in person, covering bacteria, cross-contamination, temperature control, cleaning and personal hygiene.

If you're the one running the show — planning menus, deciding what's safe to sell, supervising helpers — a Level 3 qualification is often recommended, and some councils will expect it. Train anyone who helps you, even the family member who does the occasional Saturday. Keep the certificates on file.

Write down how you keep food safe

You need a food safety management system based on HACCP principles: a documented, everyday process for spotting and controlling hazards. The Food Standards Agency publishes free Safer Food, Better Business packs aimed at small catering and retail businesses, and they're the simplest place to start. A diary with daily opening and closing checks, fridge and freezer temperatures, cooking and cooling records, cleaning signed off, and a note of any problems will satisfy most inspectors for a business your size.

Allergens are the part that catches people out

Fourteen allergens must be declared, and the rules change depending on how you sell. Loose food, made-to-order boxes and market portions need allergen information available — a written matrix plus a clear sign telling customers to ask is the usual approach, and whoever serves needs to know the answers. Food you pack on the premises before it's sold, such as a wrapped sandwich or a sealed jar from your kitchen, falls under stricter labelling rules requiring a full ingredient list with the allergens emphasised. Get this wrong and it's serious, so build it into your recipes from day one.

Insurance: sort it before the first order

Public liability cover usually isn't a legal requirement, but in practice it's non-negotiable: market organisers, pop-up venues, wedding clients and wholesalers will all ask for a certificate. Product liability covers you if something you've made causes harm. Employer's liability is a legal requirement as soon as you employ anyone, including part-time help.

The one people forget is home insurance. Standard contents policies often exclude business stock, commercial equipment and liability arising from a business run from home — and an undisclosed commercial oven can cause real problems if you ever claim. Ring your insurer and tell them exactly what you're doing, or speak to a broker who handles small food businesses. If you deliver, your car insurance needs business use added too.

Loose ends worth checking early

Read your mortgage terms, tenancy agreement or lease, and any restrictive covenants — plenty quietly prohibit business use. Planning permission is rarely needed for a low-key home food business, but a kitchen extension, signage or regular van deliveries can change that. Whether you trade as a sole trader or a limited company affects your tax and your personal liability, so run it past an accountant before your first sale.

Register with HMRC and keep records of income, ingredients, equipment and mileage; you'll need them for Self Assessment. Packaging, labelling and waste need a plan too — used cooking oil, for instance, can't go down the drain.