Food stalls

Information for community groups and businesses 

In Victoria, all food premises must get a Food Act registration from their local council before selling food. This includes fixed premises, such as cafes and restaurants, as well as temporary and mobile food premises, such as a food van or market stall. 

You can find out more about running a food stall here(PDF, 183KB) .

What is a temporary food premises? 

According to the Food Act 1984, a temporary food premises is a structure that is not permanently fixed to a site. This includes things such as a tent, a stall or a marquee. Common examples are market stalls or sausage sizzles. 

It also includes the temporary use of a kitchen not owned or leased by the food business. For example, if you are cooking cakes at a hired kitchen to sell later, you need to register your use of this kitchen as a temporary food premises. 

You can find out more about temporary food premises here(PDF, 194KB) .

The Loddon Mallee group of councils has developed a set of guidelines to assist temporary food premises. The guidelines are available here(PDF, 3MB) .

What is a mobile food premises? 

Under the Food Act, a mobile food premises is a food premises that is a vehicle. This can include food vans, caravans or trucks, coffee vans, trailers and even bicycles. 

If you want to register a temporary or mobile food premises with your local council, you can do so through the Foodtrader website. 

Developed by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Foodtrader website makes it easier to register your food premises online, whether you’re a business or a community group. 

Simply visit the website, create an account and log on. You will then have access to the online application form which, once completed, will then be lodged to your local council for review. 

Once your local council approves your registration, you can trade anywhere in Victoria without having to register with another council. 

However, each time before you trade you need to log in to your Foodtrader account and complete a short form called a Statement of Trade (SOT), which will ask when and where you will be trading from your temporary or mobile food premises. Your SOT will then go to the relevant council to notify them of your activities in the area. 

For example, your community group may have a sausage sizzle stall registered with your council. For each sausage sizzle your group does you will need to log on and provide the date and location of your temporary food premises. 

Please see the Foodtrader website for more information or contact our Environmental Health Unit on 5481 2200 or 1300 666 535.