Commissary (mobile food vending)

Food truck buyers meet this word in the rules for mobile units and on the truck itself. It is worth asking where a truck is based and on what terms, because the answer may be part of what the buyer would need to replace or take over.

Manitoba

Manitoba’s Food and Food Handling Establishments Regulation defines a mobile food unit as a vehicle-mounted food service establishment capable of being readily moved, and which returns to a central commissary or other fixed food service establishment after each day’s operation. Section 38 sets operating requirements for these units, including single-service utensils and rules for liquid waste storage.

City of Toronto

Toronto’s food truck page lists “Address/Commissary” among the lettering a vehicle must carry, for food trucks only. Its licence application also asks for proof of a health inspection letter from Toronto Public Health.

Ask the seller where the truck is based, whether any commissary arrangement is in writing, and whether the health unit has accepted it. See What licences and health approvals should I check before buying a food truck in Canada? and food premises permit. This entry covers Manitoba and Toronto only; check the rules where you are.