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Business setup · Ireland

Irish Food Business Registration & Start-Up Planner

The first authority, the required controls and a realistic starting budget all depend on what you make, where you make it and who you sell to. A home baker selling at a market and a producer wholesaling animal products are not on the same route, and the difference between ordinary registration and full approval is the one most likely to be found out late. This planner asks the questions that decide it, names the authority to contact first, and turns your own cost estimates into a checklist ordered by what has to happen before you spend money.

Interactive tool

Enter your details

The authority to contact first, whether you need registration or approval, a starting-budget total, and a checklist ordered by what has to happen before you spend money.

Step 1 of 3Business · Premises · Customers and more
  1. Business · Premises · Customers and more, step 1
  2. Starting budget, step 2
  3. Starting budget, step 3

Business

Premises

Customers

Who will you sell to?

Selling to other businesses rather than to the public can change which authority you deal with, and whether you need approval.

Products

Foods of animal origin carry extra rules, and supplying them to other businesses is the commonest reason approval is needed.

Extra duties

What else applies?

Each one you tick adds its own task to the plan.

Nothing is saved. Your inputs are used only to calculate this result.

Personalised answer

Your result stays in view

Complete 3 short steps and this panel fills with your answer.

  • A direct answer to the question, in one line
  • The figures behind it, broken down
  • Practical next steps and the assumptions used

Evidence

The figures this tool uses

€50
CRO fee to incorporate a company online
Electronic A1 filing. Paper filing costs more; this planner models the online route.
CRO company fees · checked 26 July 2026
€20
CRO fee to register a business name online
A sole trader trading under their own name files nothing and pays nothing.
CRO business-name forms and fees · checked 26 July 2026
14
Regulated allergens that must be declared
Every food business needs a system for identifying them, controlling cross-contact and giving accurate written information.
FSAI starting a food business · checked 26 July 2026

Before you begin

What you need to plan a food business launch

  • Choose the activity you expect at launch, not a distant expansion plan.

  • If products or customer types vary, select the route with the highest level of control.

  • Use current quotes for variable costs where you have them. Leave a cost at zero only when it is genuinely not needed or still unknown.

Reading the answer

Understanding your registration route and budget

The named authority is a likely first contact. It is not an approval or a legal determination.

Finish everything under ‘Before spending’ before you sign a lease or order a fit-out.

Boundaries

Assumptions and limitations

Working assumptions

  • Most direct-to-consumer businesses begin with HSE Environmental Health registration.
  • Manufacturing, wholesale and certain foods of animal origin can require another competent authority or approval.
  • Built-in CRO online filing fees come from the official fee schedules and are reviewed with the result.

Where to be careful

  • The tool cannot classify every product, process or local-authority permission.
  • Confirm the final route with FSAI or the competent authority before trading.
  • Training, insurance, licences, premises, equipment and working-capital figures come from your entries; the tool does not invent a market average.

Worked example

The same question, answered end to end

A home baker selling direct to the public at markets, trading under their own name, with no costs priced yet.

What was entered

  • A home-kitchen business, preparing at home, selling direct to consumers.
  • No meat, dairy, eggs or fish handled.
  • Trading as a sole trader under their own name, so no CRO filing.
  • Nothing costed yet.

How it is worked out

  1. Selling direct to consumers, with no foods of animal origin and no manufacturing, means registration rather than approval — so HSE Environmental Health is the first authority.

  2. Seven tasks apply to every food business, from the HACCP-based system to traceability and records.

  3. Preparing at home adds an eighth: checking that the domestic setup can be separated from domestic life.

  4. No conditional answers were ticked, so nothing further is added.

  5. A sole trader using their own name files nothing at the CRO, and nothing has been priced, so the planner lists the five costs to get quotes for rather than totalling zeros.

What the tool returns

Likely route
Registration
How involved the route is
Straightforward
Starting budget
Not priced yet
CRO online filing fee
None
Tasks every food business has
8
Extra tasks from your answers
0

Common questions

Questions about this tool

Do home food businesses have to register?

Yes. FSAI states that a food business must register before operating, including one run from home.

Is registration the same as approval?

No. Some activities, particularly certain animal-origin processing or wholesale supply, may require formal approval before trade.

Is the starting budget a typical Irish launch cost?

No. The CRO online filing fee is current and built in; premises, equipment, training, insurance, stock and working capital use the figures you enter because they vary too widely for one honest average.

Maintenance

What has changed in this tool

  1. 26 July 2026

    Version 2026-07-26.1

    Current published state: an authority and route decided from product, premises and customer, a phased task list, and the visitor's own cost estimates added to the current CRO online filing fee. No universal market averages are invented for costs that vary by business.