How to Start a Food Truck Business in India

Food truck business might be new for you, but it is not. Food truck business was introduced in India in the ealier 70’s and 80’s itself, but only due to acceptance of western culture since the 21st century we all are now aware of the term of Food truck. In India, the food truck business is expected to grow annually by 18% unit the year 2020 due to the behaviour of the consumers towards fast food. It is also assumed that the food truck business in India will be worth US$27.57 billion by 2020. According to this, the food truck business has a very great scope to grow in India.

Requirements for Food Truck Business in India

Enough Research should be done

Before you take any step ahead for initiating a Food truck business, you should have enough information regarding that topic. Therefore you need to do enough research about the business. The things you need to know about are mentioned below:

What for the your competitor do?
Look for the best place to run a food truck business
Make sure your food truck is having its own USP which will attract your customers
Visit your competitor’s shop and ask them about their drawbacks and benefits
Understand what can served to the customers and what they prefer to eat

Decide the concept

You also need to know what will be your business concept or what ideas you are coming up with.

Decide the type of food which will be served
Try to include specialized items
Types of equipment required for running a Food truck

For running a food truck business you will require minimum types of equipment such as mentioned below:

New or second-hand Truck
Staff (Chef- 1 or 2, Serving staff- 2 or 3 people)
Ingredients can be purchased in bulk by the vendors
Refrigerators or cooling box, Gas stove, Serving dishes or bowls, etc
Types of equipment which will reduce man work

License Required to open a Food Truck Business in India

While initiating a Food truck business you need to get appropriate licenses. Most of the business shut down by not applying for the documents required to run a business. So, let us understand what are the required documents for running a Food truck business in India.

FSSAI License

Food business operators have to register themselves under FSSAI (Food Safety and Standard Authority of India). FSSAI is an authority to provide a Food License to the business operators in India. There are three types of FSSAI License

Basic FSSAI License – Annual turnover below 12 lakhs
State FSSAI License – Annual turnover above 12 lakhs and below 20 crores
Central FSSAI License – Annual turnover above 20 crores

Documents required for FSSAI License Registration

Passport Photo

Address Proof
List of Food Category
Photo ID Proof
List of equipment
NOC From Municipality
Incorporation Certificate
List of Directors / Partners
MOA and AOA
Water Test Report
Import Export Code

Procedure to Obtain Food License

The FSSAI Registration procedure should be initiated by submitting Form A (application) to food and security office.
This application can be accepted or dismissed by the Department inside 7 days from the application date and the reality must be hinted to the candidate recorded as a hard copy.
In case the application is accepted, at that point, the division will allow a registration authentication with the FSSAI registration number and the photograph of the candidate.

Shop and Establishment License

When you are running any business in any premise you need to apply for Shop and Establishment license. Any commercial establishment, residential hotel, restaurant, eating-house, theatre of other places of public amusement or entertainment have to apply for Shop Act License.

Documents required for Shop Act License

The list of documents for obtaining Shop Act License varies as per the state. Following mentioned are the basic documents for obtaining Shop Act License for Food Truck.

Employer and the manager name
Postal address of the Shop
Establishment name
Establishment category
Photo of the establishment with the signboard
Aadhar card
Passport size photo of the owner with Food Truck

The procedure for obtaining the Shop Act License

Visit the Online Government portal
Select an Option among “Individual” or “Organization”.
Enter your Mobile number on which you will receive an OTP.
Enter the OTP received on your mobile number.
Mention your E-mail address and other personal details for registration.
Set a Password and fill all the mandatory fields.
Click on “Submit”.
A verification link will be sent on your provided mail id.

Enter the valid credentials on the portal to login.
And login for further process.
Click on “Services” for New registration.
Select “Registration” – Form A (Fill all the required details and submit the from)
Application ID will be provided.
Open the application by entering the Application ID
You will be able to see the status of the application.
Upload your documents as per the requirement.
Make the payment.
The document status will be shown as in Scruting, which means the document is under verification.
Later the document status will turn into approved or rejected, you need to check this periodically.
In case your document is rejected then apply for it once again. You will receive a mail follow the instructions as per that and reply for Shop Act License.
When you see the status “Approved” download the document and take a print of it, it is necessary that the Shop Act License to be showcased in the business premise as the officers can come for verification.

GST Registration

The taxpayer who falls under GST criteria has to apply for GST Registration. The threshold limit for GST registration is 40 lakhs for the supplier of goods and 20 lakhs for the supplier of services.

Documents required for GST Registration

The list of documents for GST registration differs as per the entity type, below mentioned are the documents required for GST registration for running a Food Truck Business.

Proprietorship
PAN Card of Owner
Aadhar Card of Proprietor
Bank Details
Address Proof
Private Limited Company
PAN Card of Company
Aadhar of all Directors
Bank Details
Address Proof
MOA, AOA, and Incorporation
Partnership/LLP
PAN Card of Partnership
Aadhar of Partners
Bank Details
Address Proof
Partnership Deep/LLP Certification

Procedure for obtaining GST Registration

Visit Online GST portal
Click on “Register Now”.
Fill the mandatory details (Individual details, Address details, Business details, Personal E-mail Id and Contact details)
Click on “Proceed”.
Enter the OPT received on your mobile number.
You will receive TRN (Temporary reference number)
Log in to GST portal and click on register now, enter your TRN and proceed with entering a valid CAPTCHA.
You will receive an OTP once again.
Enter the OTP and proceed further.
You have to edit the draft and provide all the required documents.
Once you provide all the required documents fill the declaration and Submit.
Provide your DSC (Digital Signature Certificate) while submitting.
ARN number will be generated after the submission of the details.
You can track your document using ARN.

Fire safety certificate

There will be some type of types of equipment which can easily catch fire easily, therefore while initiating a food truck business you need to get a Fire Safety Certificate from the Fire department.

Promotions

In this digital world, there are basically two ways of promotion, one is Social Media and another one is word marketing. Use social media websites to promote your business as much as possible. Create your website, your Facebook, Instagram pages, try to make it innovative. Give discounts and offers to the customers, create a bond between the customers.

Do not hesitate to talk about your business, and tell your friends your family to promote your business as well.

It is necessary to understand the business before you start it. You should be aware of every it’s and but of the business. It can also happen that your business may not lead to success in one go, but if you go accordingly by following every procedure then you will surely achieve something good.