A fine dining restaurant is characterized by high-quality food with a choice of Indian and Western cuisines and attractive dishes to choose from, it is a sit-down or a formal type of lunch and dinner, caters to premium and niche clientele and employs some of the best chefs and employees from the industry. Opening a fine dining restaurant involves investing in the best of everything and hence requires a handsome investment.
One of the primary registrations as a food operator, the promoters/owners of the restaurant need to apply and procure the food license under the Food Safety Standards Act, 2006. The FSSAI that works under the Ministry of Health and Welfare is responsible for ensuring that each and every Food Business Operator (FBO) in the country follows norms related to food safety and hygiene. It also ensures that consumers and other stakeholders in the country are informed from time to time on the safety and hygiene standards so that they can make informed decisions while choosing food for consumption. The FSSAI license is a way of communicating to the customers that the food has been prepared and handled in a safe and hygienic manner.
The Food Safety Standards and Authority of India have set down rules clearly demarcating between the three different types of FSSAI licenses that apply to different FBOs in India.
- The basic FSSAI license or registration is applicable for small-time food operators with annual returns less than Rs. 12 lakh annually.
- The State FSSAI license is needed to be procured by FBOs whose turnover falls between Rs. 12 lakh to Rs. 20 crores.
- The FSSAI Central license is applicable for business units that are earning more than Rs. 20 crore annually.
For business units, involved in dairy products, vegetable oil processing and other food processing units, normal storage units, cold storage units, atmosphere controlled storage facilities, wholesalers, food vending agencies, transporters and hotels have production/storage/turnover/number of vehicles related parameters to determine their eligibility for procuring either the State or the Central license.
A fine-dining restaurant will invariably fall under the state or the central license categories. For issuing both these types of license, the concerned authorities will first physically inspect the premises of the FBO and accordingly grant the license. The food is also tested on a routine basis at FSSAI Notified food testing laboratories that are accredited by NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories).
In establishing a Fine dining restaurant many other formal registrations are required. Following is a list of few such requirements;
- Initially, the business is required to be registered. If you are operating alone then sole proprietorship or one person company are the obvious choices. However, if you are planning it with your partners then an LLP or private company can be set up.
- GST registration is to be applied for. if you are not planning to serve liquor in the restaurant then you can also register as a composition dealer under GST.
- Trade license along with NOC from fire and other concerned departments is required to be applied for.
- Registration under Shop and Establishment Act is also mandatory.
- You can also apply for MSME registration as it ensures added benefits.
