# Selling baked goods from home



## SAHW83

Can somebody please give me some advice on the following matter:

My husband and I will be moving to Düsseldorf soon. My passion in life is baking. I used to bake all the time back in my home country and sell what I made from my house. Once we have settled in Düsseldorf I would like to explore the option again of baking and selling my baked goods from home.

I would like to know if anyone can advise me if this is legal in Germany. Would I need to do a Food Hygiene Course and get the certificate? Would I be able to bake in my own kitchen, or would I need a separate area in my home to do this? Or would I need to rent a place?

What are my options? And is there a website I can go to for more answers? I have tried Googling of course and came up short on any answers.

All advice is appreciated.


----------



## beppi

Anything you do is fine as long as it's selling private to private customers without commercial interest (i.e. wanting to make a profit).
If you go beyond that (the threshold isn't clearly defined, but decided on a case-by-case basis by the courts) you need to register a business and comply with hygiene regulations. Ask at the relevant authorities (Gewerbeamt, Gesundheitsamt) what exactly this means.
In case your visa does not include a work permit (dependant's visa usually do not!), also ask at the Arbeitsamt whether you need and how you can get one.


----------



## ALKB

SAHW83 said:


> Can somebody please give me some advice on the following matter:
> 
> My husband and I will be moving to Düsseldorf soon. My passion in life is baking. I used to bake all the time back in my home country and sell what I made from my house. Once we have settled in Düsseldorf I would like to explore the option again of baking and selling my baked goods from home.
> 
> I would like to know if anyone can advise me if this is legal in Germany. Would I need to do a Food Hygiene Course and get the certificate? Would I be able to bake in my own kitchen, or would I need a separate area in my home to do this? Or would I need to rent a place?
> 
> What are my options? And is there a website I can go to for more answers? I have tried Googling of course and came up short on any answers.
> 
> All advice is appreciated.



Oh dear. German rules and regulations...

You will face a few obstacles:

1) Work permit. You need one even for self-employment.

2) Hygiene regulations. No standard kitchen will pass muster. You would need a commercial kitchen.

3) Doing this from home. If you are renting, you would need permission to operate a business from the house/flat and also to install said commercial kitchen. Most landlords only (if at all) allow 'silent' businesses, in which you basically just do admin from home without any client traffic.

4) You need a personal hygiene certificate. Rules differ from Bundesland to Bundesland. In Berlin it's rather quick and painless.

Best to ask at the local Ordnungsamt for any other regulations you need to meet.

A lot of people very quickly forget about their food-related home business ideas...


----------



## ALKB

It seems to be even worse than I thought.

I just remembered something I learned in hotel school and looked it up.

Professional baking is one of those trades that still require a Master, even if they are just present and overseeing your baking.

There are exceptions to that rule, for example if you have a business already and baking would be an additional, very minor side business to this, like if you have a farm, you can bake cakes and sell them in your farm shop or farm cafe.


----------



## dhream

And to top it all off, you are in competition with some of the best bakers in the world!
It is not widely known outside Germany, but their bread and cakes and bakeries are superb and plentiful.
But there may be an angle, learn German, get a formal qualification in baking there, start your own business, or work with one of the better bakeries...
You might also consider a weekly market stall, but that is still essentially a business, and you'd need conversational german at the very minimum...


----------



## James3214

Needing formal qualifications before you can start work or run a business is not unusual in Germany and a lot of smaller bakers do struggle even though they are 'qualified' and produce quality products. I can remember seeing a series about Germans emigrating abroad and a one or two were qualified bakers looking for a better life. One who went to Canada struggled but eventually managed to develop it into a successful business but it became clear that his skills and expertise were well above the local level. 
You will have tough competition if you do it.


----------



## dariusjgeorge

Europe has a plenty of restrictions, in dubai however, I had restrictions with the usage of my kitchenstand mixer that I purchased from Dubai itself. The landlord told me I was being too noisy. What! the kitchenaid is extremely silent compared to other stand mixers. I was looking for some other baking tools and utensils online on tavolashop.. Does ayone have any suggestions on how to fix this?

I'm an avid baker and would love to continue this!


----------

