FSSAI registration is the basic food safety licence from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India that every food business must hold, including home kitchens, tiffin services, cloud kitchens, bakers and cafes. It gives you a 14-digit number that has to appear on your bills, packaging and menu. There are three tiers by annual turnover: Basic Registration for small businesses (turnover up to ₹12 lakh at the time of writing), a State Licence for medium ones, and a Central Licence for large or multi-state operations. Applications are filed online on the FoSCoS portal.
Why it matters
Operating without it is illegal and carries penalties, and in practice you cannot list on delivery apps, sign a corporate tiffin contract or supply a retailer without the number. A printed number on the packet also reassures customers who are ordering from a home kitchen for the first time. The turnover tiers mean the licence has to grow with you: a home kitchen that crosses ₹12 lakh a year must move up to the State Licence. Fees are modest, with Basic Registration costing a nominal amount per year and the State Licence a few thousand; check the FoSCoS portal for current figures. FSSAI registration for home kitchens walks through the form.
Example
A home tiffin service starting in Nagpur expects about ₹8 lakh of turnover in its first year, so it files for Basic Registration with an ID proof, an address proof and a photo, choosing a validity of one to five years at filing. It prints the 14-digit number on the bill and in the footer of its WhatsApp menu. A year later it has 60 subscribers at ₹3,000 a month, which is ₹21.6 lakh a year, so it applies for the State Licence before the registration comes up for renewal. Cloud kitchen licences in India lists what else sits alongside FSSAI, from GST to the fire certificate.