Investors who want to set up businesses in the food and beverages industry in Vietnam have several options. They can choose to establish food shops, catering businesses, restaurants or fast foods. For the last three types of businesses, the requirements are the same.
Most investors will usually choose to open Vietnam restaurants because these are also sought by the many tourists who visit the country all year long. Our company formation consultants in Vietnam can offer detailed information on the requirements related to starting a restaurant business in this country.
The Food Law in Vietnam
There are several laws which must be respected by local and foreign enterprisers who open companies in the food sector in Vietnam. Among these the Companies Law and the Food Act are the most important ones.
If the Companies Act provides for the company registration process in Vietnam, the Food Law provides for:
- the types of food products which can be prepared and sold in a restaurant in Vietnam;
- the licenses which must be obtained when opening a food business in this country;
- the health and quality standards the products sold in restaurant must comply with;
- the documents needed by restaurant businesses in order to receive the operational licenses;
- the safety and hygiene requirements for the personnel handling foodstuff in restaurants.
The first requirement to set up a restaurant in Vietnam is to register a company, a procedure which can be handled by our local company formation agents.
Applying for food license in Vietnam
Restaurant owners in Vietnam must apply for several licenses and permits when opening their companies, however the food and the beverages licenses are the most important ones. In order to obtain a food license, the applicant must submit the following documents with the Ministry of Health:
- the notarized copy of the Vietnam company’s business license issued by the Commercial Registrar;
- the documents stating that the restaurant complies with the quality standards imposed by the Food Law;
- a certificate which indicate that the foods to be sold in the restaurant comply with the safety standards;
- a copy of the certificate of compliance with the hygiene requirements imposed to the personnel handling the products;
- a coy of the trademark registration certificate, if the business owner has registered the business name as a trademark.
For full information on the requirements related to starting a restaurant, please contact our Vietnam company registration advisors. Besides offering you services regarding opening a restaurant in Vietnam, you can also get in touch with our lawyers if you need legal assistance with any other matter. For instance; if you are planning to open a company complying with Vietnamese legal requirements, you will need the services of a Vietnamese accounting firm in this regard. After the initial accounting setup is complete, our accountants can offer the company monthly assistance with the following range of tasks: deliver monthly reports in both English and Vietnamese that include the following: balance sheet, profit, and loss, trial balance, cash flow, general ledgers, etc.