Types of food business licences

The nature of your food-based business will determine the type of licence you will need. Council has three types of food business licences you can apply for.

Fixed food business

The term fixed food business refers to a business that operates from a fixed premises with a permanent address.

A fixed food business includes:

  • cafe/restaurants
  • takeaway food shops
  • bakeries
  • home businesses
  • child care centres
  • fruit and vegetable shops
  • food manufacturers
  • caterers.

Fixed food business who are planning on placing tables and chairs out on a footpath may also be required to obtain approval for outdoor dining.

Mobile food business

Mobile food businesses operate from a vehicle or on a boat, they do not have a fixed premises. The entire food business is contained within the mobile vehicle or boat.

A mobile food business includes:

  • food trucks
  • a food business that involves selling hamburgers from a motor vehicle
  • ice cream vans
  • pie vans (smoko trucks)
  • mobile snack trucks
  • mobile food trailers
  • domestic water carriers
  • unpackaged food from vending machines.

A mobile food business only requires licensing from one local council area in Queensland from where it is based.

A mobile food business that wants to operate from Council land, including the side of the road, may be required to apply for additional approvals for itinerant vending, the selling goods on public land and roads or selling services on public land and roads.

Temporary food business

A temporary food business refers to a food-based business that operates from a stall or tent, which is set up and packed away at the end of an event or activity such as market stalls and stalls at fetes.

Temporary food business licences can be issued annually or as a once-off for a single event. 

You must hold a food business licence with each local government area where you intend to operate your temporary business.

You can apply for a food business licence online via MBRC Online Services. You will be required to register an account in order to lodge an application.

Back to top