Hello,

We are looking to start up a bakery in zurich canton and wondered if there are any licensing laws that state which properties can be used for this purpose.

We are interested in either having a bakery/cafe or a distribution bakery for commisioned work.

We are looking at the option of starting with a smaller property to get the business going, this would be purely for food production and not a selling area.
Would this be a possible to do in a non-commercial property or in an Atelier ( workshop) as long as food hygiene was to the standard required?

Thanks for your help!

I know people who run a small bakery operation from home, you just need a food handling license and, probably, permission from your landlord to run a business from his property.

I also know someone who rented a small industrial unit and converted it to a kitchen for catering prep, again, a food handling license and landlord permission was, I think , all that was needed.

There will be restrictions on some properties re what they can be used for, but I think they are mostly residential/commercial/retail.

Re the food hygiene permit, the inspectors, in my experience, are really helpful.

Good luck and let me know what you are planning on baking!

We asked recently in Geneva and all needed was to register in
"service consommation et affaires veterinaires" (easy to find in google) and a your atelier will be subject to random inspections.
Good luck