Catering business startup costs in France: premises, equipment, profitability

Three ways to open, three budgets

A caterer's budget is decided before the first builder's quote: by the model you choose. A production kitchen, with cooking, dishwashing, cold rooms and sometimes a small team, lets you make everything yourself and produce in volume. That is the model of the large franchise networks, with 150 to 300 m² kitchens and investments of €150,000 to €350,000: orders of magnitude found in offers published in 2025 and 2026, for guidance only.

A small preparation unit, rented and brought up to standard, suits a caterer starting alone or with one partner and a focused menu. The budget drops to a few tens of thousands of euros, depending on the premises and the van. The third route is to join a brand that provides the menu, the preparation sheets and the clients: premises are still mandatory, but they do not need to be a production kitchen.

The budget, line by line

The amounts below are orders of magnitude for a small preparation unit, excluding VAT, observed in 2026. They vary a lot with the city and the state of the premises: use them to draft a first financing plan, not to replace one. Always get at least two quotes per item.

Premises: the item that decides everything

Catering premises need no shop front and no prime location: clients do not come to you, you go to them. Look instead for light-industrial premises reachable by van, close to the office districts you are targeting, with a water supply, drainage and enough electrical power for refrigeration.

Before signing, check three points with someone who knows hygiene requirements: can the premises keep clean and dirty flows apart, can walls and floors be made washable, and does the lease allow a food business? A lease signed on premises that can never meet the standards is the most expensive mistake in the trade.

Once fitted out, the premises are registered with the food safety authorities before opening. Exactly what the texts require is in what the law requires of a caterer.

Refrigeration and the vehicle

Cold storage is the heart of the job. Plan enough units for incoming food, preparations in progress and the next day's orders, without ever overloading: an overfull cabinet no longer holds its temperature. A recording thermometer in each unit will save you many discussions during an inspection.

For deliveries, a refrigerated van is the most comfortable option. Good insulated boxes with eutectic plates are enough for short rounds and modest volumes. It depends on distance and volume: a caterer delivering three meetings a morning in the same city does not need what a caterer driving a hundred kilometres to a wedding needs.

Second-hand refrigeration is a sensible saving, provided you check the compressor, the door seals and how steadily it holds temperature before buying. Ask the seller for a few days of temperature readings, or test it yourself with a recording thermometer.

Working out profitability honestly

Catering profitability is worked out backwards. Start from your monthly fixed costs (rent, insurance, vehicle, subscriptions, your own pay), then estimate the margin a typical order leaves once food, packaging, fuel and preparation and delivery time are paid for. The number of orders you need each month follows on its own.

An illustrative example, just to fix ideas: if your fixed costs come to €4,000 a month and an average €600 order leaves you €200 after its direct costs, you need twenty orders a month, about five a week, to break even. These are not market averages: replace them with your own figures, line by line.

This is why regularity matters more than the big job. One wedding a month does not replace ten corporate clients who order every week. That market, and how to get into it, is covered in starting a corporate catering business in France.

Financing your opening

French banks readily finance equipment and vehicles, less readily working capital. Solid personal funds, precise quotes and a cautious forecast are the three things that reassure them. Interest-free honour loans (prêts d'honneur), with no personal guarantee, strengthen your own contribution and make a bank loan easier.

If you have moved to France recently, expect the bank to ask for a French address, a French bank account and a detailed business plan in French. Chambers of commerce (CCI) and chambers of trades and crafts (CMA) can help you put it together, and a local accountant's name on the forecast reassures lenders.

Your legal status also affects cash flow: as a micro-entrepreneur, contributions are paid on turnover collected, even in months when costs are heavy. The details are in VAT and limits for micro-entrepreneur caterers.

Opening under the Crozy brand: what changes in the budget

Opening a Crozy does not remove the need for premises: premises that meet hygiene standards, registered with the food safety authorities before your first order, are required; their exact food safety status is to be confirmed with the DDPP before opening. What changes is that they need not be a 150 to 300 m² production kitchen, because the menu, preparation sheets and standards are provided, and website orders in your area are assigned to you.

The entry fee is €4,900 excluding VAT, including the five-day Crozy Workshop and the opening of your area; the €390 monthly brand fee only starts in the fourth month. The personal funds required, at least 15,000 euros, cover the entry fee and your starting working capital; bringing the premises up to standard and the vehicle come on top, and can be financed by a bank loan or an honour loan. The models are compared in franchise or brand licence: the comparison.