Would you like to set up a restaurant or a café? This page contains instructions on starting a restaurant business.
Image: Tussitaikurit Oy
If you want to set up a restaurant or a café, consider at least the following:
1. Find suitable premises: Once you find premises that you think are suitable for the food business you are planning, check with the municipal building supervision authority whether they can be used as a restaurant or café. Alternatively, you can find out if it is possible to change the premises to fit your plans. If changing the premises is possible, check with the housing company whether you are allowed to have a restaurant or café at the property, and apply for a building permit for the renovation. Remember to consider accessibility requirements when planning the modifications. It is advisable already at this stage to also contact the municipal food control authority. You can consult with the local food inspector to ensure the premises are suitable for your intended purpose.
A restaurant or café must have sufficient space for operations. Depending on the nature of the activities, there must be facilities for preparing and handling food. The kitchen must have enough water fixtures and space for handwashing, as well as for cleaning foodstuffs and equipment. Ensure there is sufficient storage and cold storage space, and a separate rapid cooling cabinet if you cool food. A restaurant or café must also have toilet facilities for staff, a staff dressing room, and space for maintaining and storing cleaning equipment.
2. Plan your operations to match your premises: Make a sensible plan for receiving and storing the raw materials for preparing food. Similarly, you should carefully plan the cooking process in order to avoid cross-contamination between raw materials and finished foods. Because food products have different temperature requirements, your cold stores must have areas with different temperatures, or you must have several cold rooms with different temperatures.
3. Find out what your staff require: Personnel who handle unpacked, perishable foods are required to have hygiene passports, appropriate work clothing and a health status statement for salmonella infection. Perishable foods include products such as meat, fish, grated carrots, and fresh sausages.
4. Submit a food premises registration announcement: Submit a food premises registration announcement to the food control authority of the local area where your restaurant or café is located no later than 4 weeks before you start operations. The announcement must also be submitted if there is an essential change in the activities, or if the business closes or there is a change of operator. You can submit an announcement online via the electronic notification service of environmental health (ilppa). Alternatively, you can complete a announcement form available from your local food control authority.
The food control authority registers your restaurant or café, and in the future, your facility will be subject to regular food control. Both the registration and the food control are chargeable official activities.
5. Plan your own-check activities: The own-check system is a method of risk management for your business. Describe your activities and plan in advance how you will manage operational risks and how to fix potential mistakes. The more risks related to food hygiene the restaurant or café has, the more requirements there are concerning own-check system. Own-check activities involve some record-keeping requirements.
You can plan your own own-check or use a ready-made template. The restaurant sector, under the guidance of the Finnish Hospitality Association (MaRa), has developed own-check guidelines for restaurants. MaRa offers the guidelines to its members, and it is available for purchase by others.
6. Other permits: If necessary, apply for a liquor licence from the Finnish Food Authority and a permit for selling tobacco products from your municipality's food control authority. You can find more information about these permits on Finnish Supervisory Agency´s website. Also remember to have your facilities inspected by the fire and rescue authorities before opening your restaurant or café. If necessary, apply for a music licence.
7. Important everyday considerations:
- Handle, store and transport foods hygienically. Protect your food products and keep your facilities clean. Make every effort to ensure that the food is not contaminated with microbes or ingredients that are not supposed to be present in the product. Ingredients that may cause allergies must be stored separately from each other and from foods in which they are not present.
- Store each food at the appropriate temperature and in other relevant conditions.
- Use only materials that are suitable for food contact and for their intended purpose, if they come into contact with food. This way, you can make sure that no harmful chemicals are introduced to the food.
- Make sure that you provide sufficient and correct information on the food you are selling. You must not mislead consumers.
- Make sure that the raw materials you use are permitted in foodstuffs. Less known raw materials, such as ones imported from outside the EU or ones that are natural plants and mushrooms, may be novel foods. You need a permit to use novel foods.
- Make sure that your products are traceable. Food and its raw materials must be traceable at each stage of production, manufacturing, and distribution.
- Also make sure it’s clear what to do if you know or suspect that a foodstuff you are selling is not safe or if your consumer suspects food poisoning.