The United States.
The larger market and the more varied. Food safety is regulated county by county rather than nationally, so the jurisdiction you pick is the rulebook you get.
Food safety is local, and it is physical.
There is no single national food permit. Health departments operate at county or city level, and an officer inspects the kitchen before it opens.
Requirements are broadly consistent in shape and inconsistent in detail. Sink configuration, grease interceptor sizing, ventilation standards, floor and wall finishes, hand wash placement and food handler certification all get specified locally, and a plan review is commonly required before any work begins.
That plan review matters more than most people expect. Submitting kitchen drawings for approval before installation is the difference between a smooth inspection and rebuilding something after the fact. We treat it as a stage, not a formality.
The compensating advantage is that the United States has a mature commissary and shared-kitchen market. Purpose-built ghost kitchen sites exist in most large metros with building services already installed and already approved, which removes the single largest source of cost and delay for a first venture.
On entity formation the logic is the same as for our other ventures: form in the state you will operate in. Forming elsewhere generally means registering as a foreign entity in the operating state anyway and paying fees and filings in both.
What a US venture involves.
| Element | Position |
|---|---|
| Entity type | LLC is the usual choice. Tax consequences run in both countries and the decision is made with your accountant, not by us. |
| Ownership | 100% non-resident ownership permitted. No US partner, nominee or resident director required. |
| State of formation | Normally the state you operate in. Forming elsewhere usually means foreign qualification and two sets of fees. |
| EIN | Federal employer identification number, needed for banking and payroll. Obtainable without a US social security number. |
| Health permit | County or city health department. Plan review, then physical inspection before opening, then periodic re-inspection. |
| Food handler certification | Required for kitchen staff in most jurisdictions, with a certified food protection manager commonly required on site. |
| Zoning & use | Commercial food production must be permitted at the address. Delivery-only use and rider traffic can raise separate questions. |
| Sales tax | Prepared food is taxable in most states. Platforms collect and remit in many jurisdictions, and the treatment varies. |
| Insurance | General and product liability, property, equipment breakdown and workers' compensation where staff are employed. |
| Banking | Prepared and lodged with institutions known to consider foreign-owned entities. The bank decides. |
| Annual obligations | State annual report or franchise tax, federal returns, plus the information filing below. |
A foreign-owned single-member US LLC must file an annual information return with the federal tax authority together with a pro-forma corporate return, even where no tax is payable and the company did not trade. The penalty for failing to file is substantial and applies per year. Every venture we set up leaves you with a compliance calendar carrying that date.
What we assess before recommending anywhere.
Delivery is hyper-local, so this is done at delivery-zone level rather than city level.
Order density
How much delivery volume the zone actually generates, and how it moves between weekday lunch, evening and weekend.
Cuisine gaps
What is oversupplied and what is missing within the delivery radius. A saturated category three miles away is irrelevant.
Achievable average order
What comparable listings actually charge and sell, which sets the ceiling on your margin per order.
Commissary availability
Whether a compliant bay exists at sensible cost, which usually decides the route.
Health department posture
Plan review requirements, inspection lead times and how the department treats delivery-only operations.
Labour market
Whether a competent head chef and line cooks can be hired at a wage the model supports.
Platform coverage
Which platforms operate in the zone and how riders are supplied at peak.
Occupancy cost
Licence fee or rent against realistic order volume. A cheap site in a low-density zone is not cheap.
Get a US location assessment
We score candidate zones against your cuisine and capital, and tell you which we would actually build in.