The van is the easy part. Before your first drop, the paperwork, the plan and the habits need to be in place. Here’s the checklist we’d work through.
For the buying side of starting out, see starting food deliveries? What to know before you buy a fridge van.
1. Register with your council
- Register your food business with your local council at least 28 days before you start trading (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
- It’s free, and it can’t be refused.
- Mobile businesses count. If you trade from a van, you still register.
- You register once, with one council. For a mobile business that’s usually the council where the van is kept overnight.
- Already trading and not registered? Do it now.
Register online at register.food.gov.uk. Sources: GOV.UK: starting a food business, GOV.UK: food business registration. Scotland has its own system, so check with your council there.
2. Write your food safety plan, and put the van in it
Every food business must have food safety procedures based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point). For most small businesses the simplest way is the Food Standards Agency’s free Safer Food, Better Business pack.
The step people miss is transport. Government guidance says HACCP plans need to be updated to include the food you transport (GOV.UK: food safety for food delivery). Your plan should cover:
- Loading: food goes into a van that’s already cold.
- The round: how long food is on board and how you keep it cold.
- Handover: what you check at the door.
- What goes wrong: what you do if the van gets too warm or the unit fails, and who decides whether food is thrown away.
You also need to show you’ve been properly trained in food hygiene. A certificate isn’t compulsory, but it’s the easiest way to prove it.
3. Temperature control
- 8°C: chilled food must be kept at 8°C or below in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It’s recommended in Scotland (GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk).
- 5°C: the guidance is to set fridges to 5°C or below, so you stay under 8°C when the doors open and close.
- Frozen: keep frozen food frozen. Don’t let it thaw on the round.
- The van: vehicles used to carry food must be able to keep it at the right temperature and let you check that temperature.
A fridge unit holds temperature; it doesn’t pull warm food down. Run the van before you load and only load food that’s already cold. See chiller, freezer or deep freeze? if you’re not sure what your van needs to do.
4. Keep the records
Write it down. The Safer Food, Better Business pack has a daily diary for this. We’d record:
- Load space temperature when you load, and at points through the round.
- Anything that went wrong and what you did about it.
- When the van was cleaned.
A temperature recorder in the van does most of this for you. See temperature recorders and the law.
5. A cleaning schedule for the van
Vehicles that carry food must be kept clean and in good repair. If the van has carried anything other than food, it must be cleaned properly between loads (GOV.UK, Milton Keynes Council).
A simple schedule we’d suggest:
- Every day: floor swept, spills wiped, nothing left behind.
- Every week: walls, floor, door seals and strip curtains washed down with a food-safe cleaner.
- Every month: a deep clean with the van empty, and check the lining for cracks and damage.
Write each clean down. If an inspector asks, you can show it.
6. Keep things apart
- Allergens: keep allergen-free meals separate in transit so a spill can’t contaminate them. Give allergen information when the food is delivered too, for example on a sticker or an enclosed menu.
- Different foods and non-food: separate them effectively. Store ingredients and prepared food separately.
- Containers: crates and boxes used for food stay food-only.
Shelving and dividers make this easier. See accessories.
7. Insurance
Tell your insurer the van is a refrigerated conversion, choose the right class of use for delivery work, and ask about goods in transit and refrigeration breakdown cover. See insuring a fridge van: what to tell your insurer.
The short version
| Task | When |
|---|---|
| Register with the council | At least 28 days before trading |
| Food safety plan, including transport | Before your first drop |
| Food hygiene training | Before your first drop |
| Temperature checks and records | Every round |
| Van cleaning | Daily, weekly and monthly, written down |
| Insurance | Before the van goes on the road |
This is a general guide. Your council’s food safety team is the place to check anything specific to your business.
Need a van for the round? Call us on 01444 245555 or send us an enquiry.
