Food Factory Licence

The Food Factory Licence is for businesses that prepare food to be eaten away from the premises where it is made (frozen confection factories excluded).

Put simply, the Food Factory Licence lets you process, cook or make food and run a takeaway business, but not dine-in. That is why it is also called the "takeaway licence". Besides food processing plants, common examples are Hong Kong street snack shops, bubble tea shops, takeaway coffee shops and takeaway two-dish rice shops. As long as there is no dine-in and customers take their food away, you can apply for a Food Factory Licence.

Free licence consultation. Contact our team.

Trust or Company Service Provider licence TC010617

Food factory: government licence fees

Floor area	New full licence / year	Renewal / year
Up to 100 m²	2,330	3,740
Over 100, up to 150 m²	3,280	4,690
Over 150, up to 200 m²	5,170	6,580
Over 200, up to 2,000 m²	6,740–54,620	8,450–56,330
Over 2,000 m²	91,230–185,160	93,710–187,640

All amounts in HK dollars. Where a range is shown, FEHD sets the exact charge by the applicable floor-area band. New full-licence fees have excluded the prescribed Fire Services Department fees since 1 November 2025; the renewal scale stays the same. The government charges above are separate from our consultancy fee. Please ask us for the licence application service fee.

Businesses that should apply

Making canned or bottled drinks or food, or food packed in other materials
Making soy sauce, pickles or sauces (including seasoning powder and MSG)
Preserved foods, including dried and cured meats, smoked ham, sausages, lo mei and preserved fruit
Catering and banquet services
Roasting meat or poultry
Making desserts
Making tofu, soy milk, dried tofu, fermented bean curd and red fermented bean curd
Making noodles, rice noodles, thread noodles, macaroni, spaghetti and glass noodles
Making snacks (for example peanuts, prawn crackers, potato crisps) and pastries
Making gluten and gluten foods, such as vegetarian lo mei
Food processing, for example making fish balls, shrimp balls, meat balls and pork rind
Making bottled drinking water

Shop requirements

A food factory selling takeaway cooked food or fast food must have food rooms with a total area of at least 6 square metres.
A food factory reheating or heating cooked food for sale must have food rooms with a total area of at least 3.5 square metres.

Special requirements and limits

For fire safety reasons, these buildings are not suitable for a Food Factory Licence:

Premises on the fourth basement level or below.
Premises directly below a registered school or child care centre, or that pose a fire risk to such places.

Other food licences

← Back to Food Business Licence Application

Food Factory Licence FAQ

What is a Temporary Food Factory Licence?

To run a temporary stall at a public event selling pre-cooked food to be eaten off site, you must get a Temporary Food Factory Licence. It is valid for no more than 7 days.

How does it compare with a Light Refreshment Restaurant Licence (small licence)?

A Food Factory Licence does not allow dine-in. Its requirements are simpler than the small licence, and it takes less time to get.