No specific degree is required to open your own food truck.
As for the permissions needed on your private property, there seems to be some debate.
Which is not the case on public roads.
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What is a food truck?
The food truck is an English term.
It can literally be translated from English as food truck or restaurant truck in French.
The food truck is a
mobile take-out restaurant
.
Its particularity is to sell homemade dishes, prepared in front of the customer, from quality and local products.
The truck has a kitchen to prepare and then sell food and drinks.
For example, Indian dishes, hamburgers, mixed salads, tacos...
The food truck is completely open on the side, thus providing a sales area.
It offers a nomadic or non-sedentary mode of catering, just like that of pizza trucks or fries stands.
Can I open my food truck in my garden?
No law prohibits the opening of a food truck on private property.
It can therefore take up residence in a garden, on a terrace, or in a field as soon as its owner agrees.
So you can open your restaurant truck at home.
However, local planning regulations may impose specific restrictions.
You can contact the planning department of your town hall to ask the question or consult the local urban plan (PLU).
Good to know
By virtue of his general police power, the mayor can
supervise or limit
the parking of your food truck on your land for reasons relating to the maintenance of public order.
That is to say, if your sales affect the peace, security and public health.
On the other hand, no provision gives competence to the mayor to authorize or prohibit in a general way sales on a private ground
(
CE, January 14, 1976, 92514
).
Read the dossierHouse: what authorizations for what work?
Is specific authorization required to open a food truck?
Defining the legal status of the food truck makes it possible to determine the regulations that apply.
The food truck is not a new construction
Mobile by nature, the food truck is not considered a new construction.
Therefore, you do not need to obtain planning permission, neither DP nor building permit, to install it in your garden.
The food truck parked in the garden is not a street vendor
If you park on the public highway or if you carry out your food truck activity in a place other than your professional domicile, you are considered an itinerant trader
(
article L123-29 of the Commercial Code
)
.
As such, you must obtain an itinerant trader's card from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) or the Chamber of Trades and Crafts (CMA).
You are a private occupant of the public domain in the eyes of the law.
Conversely, the legal status of itinerant trade does not concern you if you set up on your own land.
The food truck escapes the regulations of itinerant shops if it is parked on private property, where your company's head office is located.
You do not have to be a mobile trader card holder to sell your dishes.
Read alsoMy neighbor is encroaching on my property, what should I do?
Good to know
The owner of a food truck parked on a public road, for example a street, a sidewalk, or a municipal parking lot, must first obtain authorization from the mayor under his police power.
More specifically, it is an authorization for temporary occupation of the public domain.
Namely a parking permit or a road permit.
This authorization is in addition to the possession of the itinerant trader's card.
The sale of homemade meals in a food truck is not considered an unboxing sale.
The unpacking sale consists of selling or buying back goods in premises or locations not intended for sale to the public.
But also from specially equipped vehicles
(
article L310-2 of the Commercial Code
)
.
The food truck which has an authorization to occupy the public domain, when it is parked in the public space, does not fall into the category of unpacking sale
(article L310-2, II, 3° of the aforementioned code )
.
For food trucks parked in the garden of a private individual, it seems that the case law is not unanimous on whether or not to submit to the scope of the legislation on unpacking sales.
The difficulty comes from the fact that the law does not define the notion of goods... In other words, the question is whether the unpacking sale only covers tangible goods, or if it includes catering services when these are made on the spot.
Some court decisions favor the open-box licensing scheme, others do not.
In the 1st case:
Unpacking sales are the subject of a prior declaration to the mayor of the municipality on which the place of sale depends (cerfa 13939*01).
They cannot exceed 2 months per calendar year on the same location.
The declaration must be made at least 15 days before the date scheduled for the start of the sale.
In the 2nd case:
You do not need to declare your activity beforehand to the mayor of your municipality.
The latter also does not have to give you special permission to do so.
Your sales can then exceed 2 months per calendar year in your garden.
The courts consider that the sale of food products prepared on site, in particular in a truck provided for this purpose, is not a commodity
.
Ministerial responses point in this direction
(
ministerial response of May 27, 2010
,
ministerial response to written question no. 77762 of April 7, 2015
).
Our advice
Check with your town hall to find out what is practiced in your municipality.
Read alsoMy neighbor is encroaching on my property, what should I do?
What are the other steps to take to open a food truck in your garden?
Certain administrative procedures must be completed before you start cooking.
Business creation formalities
Opening a food truck does not exempt you from opening a micro-enterprise or creating a company.
Your company headquarters should be where your truck will be installed.
Insurance contracts
Don't forget to insure your food truck against risks (water damage, fire, etc.).
It is also strongly advised to complete your professional civil liability insurance with a food poisoning clause.
Compliance with hygiene rules
Food hygiene and safety standards apply to food trucks the same way they apply to restaurants.
For example, it is a question of respecting the cold chain.
HACCP training is mandatory.
Obtain a license to sell alcohol
If you plan to offer alcoholic beverages to your customers, you must have the appropriate license. Otherwise, you cannot offer alcoholic beverages.
Declare your food truck to the DDPP
Declare your existence to the DDPP (Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations) at least 2 weeks before the opening of your activity.
Sanitary checks can be carried out.
