Licensing for Caterers, Mobile Units, and
Temporary Food Booths
Note to Personal Chefs: Personal Chefs are not regulated at this time. If you provide
food for a private party in a person's home, and use only
their home kitchen for all food preparation and storage, you
will be considered a "personal chef" and will not need a
retail food license.
Catering, mobile and farmer's market units,
and temporary food booths are regulated through the Colorado
Retail Food Establishment Rules and regulations. All of these
operations require approved kitchen facilities for their
operations. In no cases should food prepared in an unlicensed
kitchen be offered to the public.
See below for more information on:
Catering Information
To operate as a caterer for parties, weddings,
etc. you must work out of a commissary kitchen that is
approved by Public Health.
Many caterers use licensed restaurant kitchens
or catering kitchens shared by several caterer's to start
their businesses.
Proof of the commissary arrangement should
be submitted with a completed "Request For License" packet and
fees. Once submitted, an inspector will contact you to arrange
an inspection of your commissary and to complete your
licensing process.
If you wish to use a commissary kitchen that
has not been approved by this Department, the commissary
kitchen will have to go through a plan review process.
To
begin this process, submit a completed “Plan Review
Application” packet to this office with the required fees.
See — Mobile Unit Plan Review
Packet
(PDF 128 KB)
Mobile Units and Farmer’s Markets
To operate a Retail Food Facility at outdoor
events, you may need different licenses depending on your
operations.
If you wish to operate a Retail Food Booth at a
Farmer's Market, or to operate as a Mobile Food Vendor, you
will need to get a "Mobile Unit License".
To start this
process, submit a completed “Mobile Unit Plan Review
Application” (see below) with information detailing the mobile unit you
would like to have licensed. Be aware that all mobile units
require a hand sink with adequate hot and cold running water
under pressure.
You will need to show proof of an approved
commissary, which will need to be inspected prior to licensing
the mobile unit. If you meet all of the requirements of
Section 9-107 C of the Colorado Retail Food Establishment
Rules and Regulations a commissary will not be required.
See — Mobile Unit Plan Review
Packet
(PDF 128 KB)
Temporary Event Food Booths
If you wish to operate a Retail Food Booth at
a "Temporary Event" you will need to get a Temporary Event
Retail Food License.
To start this process, submit a completed
“Application to Conduct a Temporary Event Food Facility”
packet for an upcoming event to the event coordinator. The
event coordinator should collect the completed packets from
each food vendor, and submit them to this Department at least
10 business days prior to the event.
If approved, and the
license fee is paid, you will receive a retail food license,
which will be valid until the end of the calendar year for all
temporary events in Colorado, except in the City and County of
Denver.
Once again, you will need to show proof of an approved
commissary prior to receiving a license to operate unless you
meet all of the requirements in Section 9-107 C of the
Colorado Retail Food Establishment Rules and Regulations.
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