To fill out a commissary agreement form for your food truck, start with the version published by the agency that will issue your mobile food permit, enter matching business and permit information for both you and the commissary, check only the services the kitchen will actually provide, lock in a realistic use schedule, attach any required insurance details, and get both parties to sign before submitting it with your permit application. The form is a regulatory document, so what you write has to line up with your menu, your equipment, and the commissary’s own permit on file.
Get the Right Form From the Right Agency
There is no national commissary agreement. Each regulatory authority publishes its own, and a generic template pulled off the internet will usually be rejected. The agency to contact is whoever issues mobile food facility permits in your area: a county environmental health department, a city health department, or a state department of agriculture, depending on the jurisdiction.
Many agencies post the form as a downloadable PDF on their mobile food vendor or food establishment permit page. If you cannot find it, call the food protection or environmental health division and ask for it by name. Different offices label it differently. You may hear it called a commissary letter of agreement, a commissary/commercial kitchen agreement, or a servicing area agreement. All of them do the same job.
Fill In the Identification Fields Carefully
The top of nearly every form collects identifying information for both parties. On the vendor side, expect to provide your legal business name or DBA, mailing address, phone, email, and the permit or license number tied to your mobile unit. Some forms also ask for a unit decal number or a record number the health department has already assigned you.
The commissary side mirrors that: the facility’s legal name, address, phone, and its own food establishment permit number. The commissary has to already hold a valid permit from the same regulatory authority. A residential kitchen almost never qualifies. If the commissary’s permit has lapsed or it has unresolved violations, the agreement will not be approved no matter how clean the rest of your paperwork is.
Every name and number on your form should match what the agency already has on file for both businesses. A mismatch between the business name on the agreement and the name on your permit application is one of the most common reasons forms get kicked back, and fixing it adds days or weeks to the queue.
Check Only the Services You Will Actually Use
The core of the form is a services checklist. This is where you indicate exactly what the commissary provides. A typical form lists:
- Dry, refrigerated, and frozen food storage in a designated area labeled for your use
- Food preparation space, including cooking equipment, prep surfaces, raw-meat stations, or produce sinks
- Warewashing at a three-compartment sink or commercial dishwasher
- Wastewater disposal through a mop sink, utility sink, or dump station connected to the sanitary sewer, for gray water from your onboard waste tank
- Potable water fill for your fresh water tank
- Garbage and refuse disposal
- Vehicle servicing and cleaning space large enough for your unit’s interior and exterior
- Secure storage for equipment and chemicals like propane, cleaning supplies, and spare utensils when the unit is parked
Check only what you will actually use. Inspectors compare this list against your approved menu. If you plan to break down raw chicken but leave the food-preparation box unchecked, that gets flagged. The FDA Food Code leaves it to local regulators to decide how much commissary support a mobile unit needs based on its menu, operation type, and onboard equipment, so a coffee cart may only need water and waste disposal while a full-service truck may need nearly every box checked.1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022
Enter a Realistic Schedule
Most forms require specific days and hours you will use the commissary. This is a binding commitment, not a wish list. Regulators use the schedule to confirm the kitchen will not be overloaded with too many vendors at the same time, and operating outside your listed hours can put your permit at risk during a random audit. List the hours you actually plan to show up.
Spell Out Equipment and Shared-Use Details
Some agreements include a section for the specific commissary equipment you are authorized to use: convection ovens, meat slicers, industrial mixers, walk-in coolers. If your form has no dedicated field for this, write it into the “other” or notes section anyway. Clarity here prevents disputes with the commissary owner and shows the health department that both parties understand the arrangement.
Shared-use kitchens that host multiple vendors at different times need careful scheduling to avoid cross-contamination. If the commissary handles allergens that your operation does not, or the reverse, note any protocols you have agreed on. That detail protects you if a food-safety complaint is later traced back to a different vendor sharing the space.
Add Your Insurance Information
Many commissary owners require proof of general liability insurance before they will sign, and some local permit offices independently require a Certificate of Insurance that lists the city or county as an additional insured. If your form has an insurance section, fill in the policy number, carrier name, coverage amount, and effective dates. If it does not, expect the commissary owner to handle insurance through a separate lease or rental addendum. Have the certificate in hand before you sit down to complete the agreement, because a missing certificate can stall approval just as easily as a missing permit number.
Sign, Then Submit
Both the mobile food vendor and the commissary operator have to sign and date the form. A few jurisdictions require notarization; most do not. Read the certification language above the signature line before you sign. Some cities print a warning there that false statements are punishable as a misdemeanor, so verify every entry is accurate first.
Submit the signed form to the same agency that issued it, usually as part of your mobile food facility permit application. Depending on the jurisdiction you may upload through an online portal, drop it off in person, or mail it. Many agencies will not schedule your initial unit inspection until the commissary agreement is on file, so turn it in early rather than saving it for the last step.
Processing times vary. Some agencies review the agreement as part of the overall application and approve everything at once. Others conduct a separate site visit to the commissary before signing off. A commissary already well-known to the agency with a clean record tends to clear quickly; one the agency has never inspected, or one with recent violations, takes longer.
Keep the Agreement Current
A commissary agreement is not a one-time filing. Most jurisdictions require renewal on a set cycle, often annually, sometimes biannually, or whenever you renew your mobile food permit. Some forms include automatic renewal language, meaning the agreement rolls over unless one party gives written notice (commonly 30 days before expiration). Check both your form and any attached lease for those clauses so you are not caught by an accidental lapse or an unexpected renewal.
If anything changes mid-term, such as a new commissary address, different services, or revised hours, you generally have to notify the health department within a short window. Ten days is common. File an updated agreement at the same time. Operating under an outdated form that no longer matches your actual arrangement is treated the same as operating without one.
If your commissary closes or loses its food establishment permit, you cannot keep operating. The health department will not transfer your existing agreement to a new facility automatically. You will need to find another licensed commissary, complete a new form, and submit it for approval. Some vendors line up a backup commissary relationship informally for exactly this reason, because losing your only commissary can shut down the business overnight.
What Inspectors Will Check Against Your Form
Health inspectors can ask to see your commissary agreement during any routine field inspection of your unit. In jurisdictions that require the signed, approved copy to be carried on the vehicle at all times, a missing document can trigger a notice of violation on the spot. Even where carrying a physical copy is not explicitly required, keeping one accessible saves trouble.
Inspectors also verify that your actual operation matches what the agreement describes. If the form says you dispose of wastewater and refill potable water on weekday mornings but your waste tank is overflowing on a Tuesday afternoon, that gap raises questions. The FDA Food Code requires liquid waste from a mobile food unit to be removed at an approved servicing area in a way that does not create a public health hazard, and inspectors use your commissary agreement as the roadmap for confirming that.1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022
Some agencies also require a written log of each commissary visit, recorded in permanent ink and kept on the unit. Where a log is required, treat it as seriously as the agreement itself. An incomplete log during an inspection can lead to the same consequences as a missing agreement.