What is a commissary kitchen, and when does a food business need one?

What a commissary kitchen is

A commissary kitchen is a commercial kitchen built and permitted to the health code, which several food businesses share. Caterers, bakers, sauce makers, meal-prep companies and food trucks rent time, storage and equipment in it instead of building their own kitchen. People also call it a shared kitchen, a shared-use kitchen, a kitchen incubator or a commercial kitchen for rent. Some commissaries serve one owner's own outlets, such as a restaurant group's central kitchen.

The word comes up most with food trucks. The FDA Food Code, the model food safety code that FDA publishes and that is offered for adoption by local, state, and federal governmental jurisdictions, describes a servicing area as an operating base location to which a mobile food establishment returns regularly for cleaning, discharging waste, refilling water tanks and ice bins, and boarding food. Whether a mobile vendor must use a commissary is up to the local health department. The Food Code says that decision should be based on the menu, type of operation, and availability of on-board or on-site equipment.

The Food Code is a model. Each state, county or city adopts its own version, so the rules below vary by state and city. This page is general information, not legal advice. Your local health department decides what applies to you.

When a food maker needs a commissary kitchen

Many small food makers start at home under a cottage food law. Each state writes its own, deciding which foods may be made at home, where they may be sold and whether sales are capped. A commissary kitchen is the usual next step once you go past those limits. The Food Code is plain about home kitchens in licensed businesses: food prepared in a private home may not be used or offered for human consumption in a food establishment.

• You want to sell wholesale to shops, cafes or distributors, and your state's cottage food law does not allow it.
• You make foods that need refrigeration or temperature control, such as meat, dairy fillings or cut fruit. The Food Code holds these at 5°C (41°F) or less or 57°C (135°F) or above.
• Your sales are near or above your state's cottage food sales cap, if it has one.
• You run a food truck, cart or catering business that needs a permitted base for prep, cleaning, water and waste.
• You sell online across state lines, and your state's cottage food law does not cover that.
• You need equipment a home kitchen does not have, such as a commercial oven, walk-in cooler or large mixer.

If your product will be packaged and sold through stores at scale, look also at a co-packer, which makes the product for you under its own permits.

Commissary kitchen requirements: what the health department checks

Two sets of rules apply: the ones the kitchen meets as a building, and the ones you meet as a business using it. The table lists Food Code provisions that apply to a commissary and its users, with the section they come from. Your county may use a different version or add its own.

Plan review and the preoperational inspection apply to the kitchen as a building, so the kitchen owner deals with them. Ask your health department what it wants from you as a renter. It may ask for a signed rental agreement, your food protection manager certificate, your menu or product list and your storage plan. check with your local regulator that the kitchen is licensed for commercial use, so ask the kitchen for its current permit before you sign.

How to rent a commercial kitchen

Call your county or city health department before you sign anything, because it decides whether the kitchen and your use of it meet local rules.

1. List what you make and how much

   Write down your products, batch sizes, the equipment you need, and how much dry, cold and frozen storage you need. Kitchens price by hours and storage, so this sets your cost.

2. Find permitted kitchens near you

   Look for shared-use kitchens, kitchen incubators, churches, community centers and restaurants that rent off-hours time. Some university extension offices keep lists, such as Nebraska Extension's list of commercial and commissary kitchens. Ask each kitchen for its health permit and its most recent inspection.

3. Ask the health department what your permit needs

   Tell the health department what you will make and where. Ask which permit you need, whether the kitchen has to sign a commissary letter or form, and whether your foods need a review such as a HACCP plan.

4. Tour the kitchen and book a trial session

   Check the equipment you listed, the cold storage, the dish area, parking, loading and the booking calendar. A trial shift shows how busy the kitchen is at the hours you need.

5. Sign the rental agreement and get insured

   Before your first booking, the kitchen may ask for proof of general liability insurance naming the kitchen as an additional insured, a deposit and copies of your permits.

6. Apply for your permit and pass inspection

   Submit your application with the rental agreement attached. The Food Code expects you to apply at least 30 calendar days before the planned opening and to pay the applicable permit fees when the application is submitted.

How kitchen rental agreements work

A kitchen rental agreement sets when you may use the shared space and equipment, what you pay and what you must do in return. You share the space with other renters, so the rules on booking, storage and cleaning matter as much as the price. Read these terms before you sign:

• Booking rules: minimum hours a month, how far ahead you book, cancellation fees and peak-hour limits.
• Storage: how many shelves, racks or cooler space you get, and whether storage is billed apart from hours.
• Cleaning: what you clean after each shift, who sanitizes shared surfaces, and fees if you leave a mess.
• Insurance: the liability limits the kitchen requires and the certificate it must receive.
• Deposits and fees: security deposit, onboarding or orientation fee, and late fees.
• Permits: which permits you must hold, and whether the kitchen signs the health department's commissary form.
• Allergens and shared equipment: how the kitchen separates allergens if other renters use the same mixers or ovens.
• Ending the agreement: notice period and what happens to food left in storage.

Commissary kitchen cost: how pricing is built

Commissary kitchen cost depends on the city, the hours and the equipment, and kitchens do not publish one standard rate. Most charge in one of three ways: by the hour, by a monthly membership that includes a block of hours, or by a flat monthly rate for a food truck's parking, water, waste and cleaning access. Storage, deposits, onboarding and late fees are usually added on top.

Example: a baker who books 8-hour shifts twice a week for four weeks at an assumed $25 an hour, plus one dry storage shelf at an assumed $50 a month, pays 64 hours times $25, or $1,600, plus $50, for $1,650 a month. These are example inputs, not quoted prices. Put in the rates the kitchens near you quote.

Add your own permit fee, food protection manager course, insurance and any product testing. Ask each kitchen for its full fee sheet so you can compare them line by line.

Licensing that follows a commissary kitchen

Moving into a commissary usually means a new set of permits, because you are no longer a cottage food maker. Which ones you need depends on what you sell and to whom. Rules vary by state and city; check each with the agency named.

• A local food permit for your business, from the city or county health department, in your name and tied to the commissary address.
• A state food manufacturing or processing license if you sell wholesale. Ask your state agriculture or health department which one licenses wholesale food makers. The Food Code covers retail food, and its definition of a food establishment excludes a food processing plant.
• FDA food facility registration may apply if food is made, packed or held for wholesale. Ask the kitchen whether it is registered with FDA.
• A food protection manager certificate, since under the Food Code the person in charge shall be a certified food protection manager, unless the regulator deems the operation minimal risk.
• A business license, seller's permit for sales tax, and labels that meet federal food labeling rules for packaged foods.
• A mobile food permit if you run a truck or cart, with the commissary named as your base.

Where Nation fits

Questions about commissary kitchens