General Restaurant License (Big License):
Common in cha chan tengs (Hong Kong-style cafes), Chinese restaurants, and various Western restaurants.
Allows for dine-in and takeaway services.
Cooking can be done using open flames or electric stoves.
Permits the preparation and sale of food using any cooking methods.
Light Refreshment Restaurant License (Small License):
Can only sell pre-prepared items listed in the “List of Food Items Permitted to be Prepared and Sold by Light Refreshment Food Licensees.”
Only simple cooking methods that do not produce excessive fumes are allowed, such as boiling, stewing, steaming, braising, and pan-frying (excluding deep-frying and stir-frying).
Food Factory License:
Involves processing, cooking, or manufacturing food items.
No dine-in services are allowed.
Common examples include:
- Baked goods (cakes, bread, cookies, desserts, etc.).
- Takeaway shops (primarily operating through platforms like FoodPanda/Deliveroo).
- Frozen meat shops, mainly selling through online stores.
- Central kitchens.
Suitable Businesses for Food Factory Licenses:
Manufacturing canned or bottled food items.
Producing soy sauce, pickles, or sauces (including flavor powders and monosodium glutamate).
Pickling foods, including dried and pickled meats, ham, sausages, braised dishes, and preserved fruits.
Catering and banquet services.
Grilling meats or poultry.
Manufacturing desserts.
Producing tofu, soy milk, dried tofu, fermented bean curd, and red fermented bean curd.
Making noodles, rice noodles, vermicelli, macaroni, and Italian pasta.
Manufacturing snacks (such as peanuts, shrimp chips, potato chips) and pastries.
Producing gluten and gluten-based products, such as vegetarian braised dishes.
Food processing, such as making fish balls, shrimp balls, meatballs, and pigskin.
Manufacturing distilled water/bottled beverages.
