Starting a food business from home

Can I prepare food for sale in my own home kitchen? And what is required when cakes are baked at home professionally, as an official company? Do I have to rent out the premises of the commercial kitchen or can the home be registered as a food apartment?

Professional food preparation at home is possible if the operation can be organized in a hygienic way and the living does not pose a risk to the food being processed.

However, a home can never be a facility that produces food of animal origin, such as a sausage factory or a fish processing plant.

Pop-up operation, i.e. preparing food for sale no more than 12 times a year, does not require registration as a food service apartment. Also, making a bun or other non-perishable bakery product made by heating at home and selling it at e.g. a market or a summer cafe does not require notification when the sales are less than 15,000 euros per year.

Take care of hygiene, cold storage, self-monitoring and packaging labels

 Housing must not pose a danger to food prepared at home. Your own food should be stored separately from food for sale. Pets are not allowed in the kitchen. In the operation, it should also be taken into account that the possible illnesses of family members do not cause a food hygiene hazard.

If the product selection includes products that require cold storage, sufficient cold space must be reserved for their storage. Good hygiene practices must be followed in manufacturing. Before starting operations, self-monitoring must be prepared, assessing the risks of one's own operations.

Regarding the products to be sold, it should be noted that the packaging labels meet the requirements of the legislation. Information on packaging labels can be found on the Food Agency's website. The link to the instructions of the Finnish Food Authority can be found at the bottom of the page.

Registration as a food apartment and supervision of operations

If the operation is professional and regular, the apartment must be registered as a food service apartment. The processing of the notification is subject to a fee. The notification must be made to the food safety unit no later than 4 weeks before the start of operations.

The food apartment located in the home is monitored like any other apartment, and inspections are carried out regularly based on a risk assessment.

When planning to register the home as a food service apartment, the resident must make sure that there are no obstacles to the activity from the property owner or his representative (housing company manager, chairman of the board, landlord). The activities carried out in the apartment must not cause harm (noise, smell, etc.) to the neighbors.

Guidelines for food premises at home (Pdf)

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05.09.2022 14:03