Mobile Food Unit Licensing

Include Commissary Agreement & Application Fee
Larimer County; $100 application fee, $44/hour review fee and $200-$1,500 license fee
Weld County
Be sure to fill out the correct form – a mobile license is for a portable unit like a food truck, hot dog cart or pop-up tent. A Retail Food license is to sell items at farmers markets or directly to the public through a restaurant, cafe or similar space.
Don’t reinvent the wheel! The health department has a lot of resources that you can use to answer their questions about time and temperature control

A commissary is a shared commercial kitchen that you pay rent per hour.
Depending on your product, you will also need a kitchen that offers dry storage, cooler space and/or freezer space; this will be an additional fee.
Click here for a list of commissary kitchens

Be aware that each city has its own rules and regulations about where mobile food vendors can setup and how frequently.

- FLIP– specifically for food businesses starting at $299/year
- Other insurance options to look into are Hartford, Allstate, State Farm, National and Liberty
- This amount is the standard amount commissary kitchens require, but check with your individual kitchen
Collect and submit city sales tax
- **Note – most farmers markets will collect sales tax and remit on your behalf; if this is the case, you do NOT need to obtain a sales tax license if you are not selling in other direct to consumer outlets
- If you sell a ready for consumption food (ie: restaurant, cafe, food truck or push cart), you will need to collect city, county and state tax.
  - Colorado Department of Revenue – 2.9%
  - Counties
    - Larimer County – .55%
  - City
    - City of Fort Collins – 2.25%
    - Greeley
    - Windsor
    - Loveland

Collect and submit city sales tax
**Note – most farmers markets will collect sales tax and remit on your behalf; if this is the case, you do NOT need to obtain a sales tax license if you are not selling in other direct to consumer outlets
If you sell a ready for consumption food (ie: restaurant, cafe, food truck or push cart), you will need to collect city, county and state tax.
- Colorado Department of Revenue – 2.9%
- Counties
  - Larimer County – .55%
- City
  - City of Fort Collins – 2.25%
  - Greeley
  - Windsor
  - Loveland

While not required, you may want to consider the following:

Form an LLC to protect your personal assets
- Be sure to complete an operating agreement even if you are a single member LLC. This goes into your files and helps show the differentiation between you and your business if there is ever an issue.
Obtain your EIN number
Open a business banking account at your local bank (bring copies of your EIN and State of CO business filing)
- Going forward, use this account to make all of your business purchases

Purchasing a website domain name (for future use)
- Don’t wait to purchase if you file an LLC as it may be purchased by “fishers” in the meantime
Hover or Google Domains
Set up a business email
- can be the businessname@gmail or if you create a website add an email name@businessname
Start a Facebook and Instagram business page if you are comfortable with social media
- Facebook is great for events, photos and tagging other businesses to help promote each other
- Facebook also has a “shop” function that you can list your products
- Instagram is a visual medium and not as much as a “sales” pitch
  - Use this platform to show off beautiful product shots and people enjoying your food