Rules for street sales
If you plan to start a food truck, or otherwise sell food on the street from a stall, or a mobile food cart, you must ensure that you comply with the rules.
On this page you can read about the most important rules and recommendations, and otherwise we refer to the Danish Food Agency's publication on food hygiene.
Registration with the Danish Food Authority
To get started with street sales of, for example, pancakes and waffles, you must register with the Danish Food Agency. However, there is an exception if you sell less than 30 days a year in total. Then you come under the trivial limit, and thus avoid having to be registered. However, it is always a good idea to check whether a permit from the municipality is necessary.
You register with the Danish Food Agency here.
Tips for registration
If you sell from a bicycle, food truck or stall, you must mark "mobile business" . When the equipment is not in use, it must be placed in a place where it can be cleaned and is safe from pests and pollution. If your stall is permanently in the same place, for shorter or longer periods at a time, this is "temporary premises" .
Rules in connection with street sales
If you store food (sugar, flour, chocolate or other), these must be stored in a warehouse that complies with the regulations.
You must have access to a toilet if you stand there for more than two hours. Remember to wash your hands before starting work again. Often it will be sufficient to have access to a public toilet or another company's toilet.
As such, it is not a requirement that you take part in a hygiene course , but it can be a good idea if you do not know anyone else who can teach you.
You must comply with the rules on labeling and self-control and ensure that the food is stored at the correct temperature. Here it is especially important that you have a receipt from where you bought the raw materials and that tax has been paid on them.
Crepes/pancakes and waffles come under unpackaged food, and therefore you must have access to a sink where you can wash your hands. There is no requirement that it be hot water. If you have water in a can but with a spout on, it will go under running water, if you have a bowl that you can use as a sink. The water must be of drinking water quality, and the container should be cleaned regularly.
If you are stuck in a stall, the Danish Food Agency will often expect that a hand sink has been installed , but this will always be based on a concrete assessment.
It does not matter whether you make dessert pancakes or food pancakes, or whether you make pancakes from scratch or use ready-made dough mixes, where you either only have to add water, eggs and margarine or water and olive oil. It is more the question of whether your stall is mobile or not , that determines whether the Danish Food Agency will expect there to be a sink.
When standing in the square, you must not place your food on the ground/floor . They must be at least 30 cm high.
When making crepes/pancakes/waffles, they must be protected so that customers cannot contaminate them. It requires a shielding of 40 to 50 cm. This is popularly called a sneeze screen . They are often made of plexiglass and can be bent as needed.
Rules for using gas machines
If you use gas for your crepe machine, you must have the following:
- Certificate showing that the equipment is approved for use in Denmark.
- Fire blanket.
- Powder extinguisher of a minimum of 6 kg.
Remember that it can be more difficult to make crepes with gas, as the plate tends to get too hot when left for a while without being used. However, this is not a problem in machines with a thermostat.
If you need power and cannot draw it from some places, many people will choose to use a powerful generator, which can often run for seven hours on a tank. They can make a bit of noise (50-70 dB) and ooze a bit, but are otherwise a sensible and very flexible way of generating power.
Ideas for street sales
There are unimaginable possibilities for selling food at street level in a fixed cart or in a mobile food truck that can drive around to various squares and festivals. One of the most popular is to make an ice cream stall or a waffle/pancake stall, because it only requires a simple setup of equipment and because the earnings are relatively good.
