How to Start a Meal Prep or Ghost Kitchen Business in Georgia

Georgia has two separate agencies overseeing food businesses, and which one you report to depends entirely on your model. Get this wrong and you’ll spend weeks in the wrong application process — or worse, open your doors and find out your permits aren’t right.

Here’s the split: if you’re running a ghost kitchen (cooking food to order for delivery), you’re regulated by the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) through your county health department, exactly like a restaurant. If you’re making pre-packaged meals for customers to heat up later, you’re regulated by the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) as a Food Sales Establishment. Different applications, different inspectors, different ongoing requirements.

This guide covers both paths.

DPH vs. Department of Agriculture — Which Agency?

The question that determines everything: are you cooking food to order, or are you packaging meals for later consumption?

Ghost kitchens — delivery-only operations that prepare food when an order comes in — fall under DPH oversight, administered at the county level. Your county health department issues the permit, sends the inspector, and sets renewal requirements. The fact that customers never walk in doesn’t change a thing. DPH treats a ghost kitchen the same way it treats a dine-in restaurant. Same rules, same inspection process.

Meal prep businesses — operations that cook meals in advance, package them, and sell them for customers to consume within the next several days — fall under the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA). You’re licensed as a Food Sales Establishment. The application, the inspector, and the regulatory framework are entirely different from DPH.

Catering businesses land with DPH as well — county health department food service permit, same as ghost kitchens and restaurants.

The practical implication: if you’re doing both — say, a ghost kitchen that also sells weekly packaged meal plans — you may need permits from both agencies. That’s not a workaround; it’s the actual requirement. Two business models, two regulators. Budget accordingly.

Ghost Kitchen — DPH Food Service Permit

A ghost kitchen is a restaurant without a dining room. Georgia treats it exactly that way.

Start with your county health department. Georgia doesn’t have a single statewide food service permit; it’s administered locally. Find your county’s environmental health office — typically listed on your county government website — and start there. If you’re in the Atlanta metro, that means Fulton County Environmental Health, DeKalb County Board of Health, Gwinnett County Health Department, and so on.

Before you build anything, submit a plan review. Most counties require you to submit facility plans for review and approval before you begin construction or build-out. This is not optional and not a formality. The plan review process verifies that your kitchen layout, equipment placement, ventilation, plumbing, and food storage will meet Georgia’s Food Service Rules and Regulations under Chapter 511-6-1. Submit early. Changes during construction are expensive.

You need a commercial kitchen. Not a home kitchen. Not a residential kitchen that “looks commercial.” An inspected, approved, licensed commercial kitchen with the right equipment. More on shared kitchen options below.

A Certified Food Safety Manager must be on-site. Georgia requires at least one person with food safety manager certification — think ServSafe or equivalent — to be present during operations. This isn’t something you can check off once and forget; it’s an ongoing operational requirement.

Pre-opening inspection comes before you serve a single order. After your plan review is approved and your kitchen is ready, the county health department sends an inspector to verify everything matches the approved plans and meets code. Pass it, and you get your food service permit. Fail it, and you fix the issues and schedule another visit.

Permit fees vary significantly by county. Expect to pay somewhere between $100 and $1,000+, depending on where you’re located and the size of your operation. Some counties base fees on seating capacity (irrelevant for ghost kitchens) or square footage. Call your county health department early to get an accurate number for your situation.

Permits require annual renewal with re-inspection. This isn’t a one-time cost. Budget for it.

Meal Prep — GDA Food Sales Establishment

If your model is cooking meals, packaging them, and delivering or selling them for customers to eat within the week, you’re in GDA territory.

Apply directly to the Georgia Department of Agriculture at agr.georgia.gov for a Food Sales Establishment license. GDA has its own application process, its own inspectors, and its own standards — separate from anything DPH does.

The product line menu requirement is specific to GDA and worth understanding. When you apply, you must submit a Product Line Menu — a listing of all products you intend to manufacture and sell. This isn’t a general business description. It’s specific: what meals, what ingredients, what processes. If you want to add a new product later, you may need to update your submission. Plan your initial menu carefully before you apply.

Your facility must meet commercial kitchen standards. GDA requires a properly equipped commercial kitchen: three-compartment sink for washing, rinsing, and sanitizing equipment; dedicated handwashing sinks (separate from prep and dishwashing areas); proper refrigeration; and temperature control equipment capable of maintaining food safety throughout preparation, storage, and packaging. A residential kitchen won’t pass. A shared commercial kitchen that’s already GDA-licensed can work — more on that below.

The 7-day rule for cooked and cooled meals. This is a specific GDA regulation: cooked and cooled meals must be stored at 41°F or below and consumed within 7 days of preparation. If your meal prep model involves cooking on Sunday and delivering for the week, that calendar works — but just barely. Build your production and delivery schedule around this window. Meals that fall outside it need to be frozen, which triggers different handling and labeling requirements.

GDA inspects independently from DPH. If you somehow thought getting a county health permit would satisfy your GDA obligation (or vice versa), it won’t. They’re separate agencies running separate programs. A GDA inspector will come to your facility, evaluate your processes and equipment, and issue — or decline to issue — your Food Sales Establishment license.

For application details, contact GDA at agr.georgia.gov.

Shared Kitchen Options

You don’t have to lease your own commercial kitchen to launch. Commissary and shared kitchen spaces have expanded significantly in Georgia’s metro areas, particularly in Atlanta.

Shared kitchens let you rent time in a fully equipped, already-inspected commercial kitchen. That means you skip the cost of building out a facility, buying commercial equipment, and — potentially — the plan review process, depending on the arrangement. For testing a concept or launching lean, it’s a practical starting point.

Rental rates in Georgia’s metro markets run $15-$40/hour for time-based rentals, or $500-$2,000/month for dedicated time blocks. The higher end gets you reserved hours, storage space, and sometimes exclusive use of certain equipment. The lower end is shared scheduling with other users.

A few things to nail down before you sign anything:

Verify the kitchen holds the right permits for your business type. A shared kitchen that’s DPH-permitted works for your ghost kitchen operation. A GDA-licensed facility works for meal prep. Some shared kitchens hold both. Ask specifically — don’t assume.

You still need your own permit. Operating out of a licensed shared kitchen doesn’t transfer that license to you. You’ll still apply for your own food service permit (DPH) or Food Sales Establishment license (GDA) and list the shared kitchen as your operating facility. This is standard — health departments and GDA are accustomed to shared kitchen arrangements.

Get it in writing that the kitchen stays permitted. If your landlord’s permit lapses or the facility fails an inspection, your ability to operate legally disappears with it. Protect yourself contractually.

Atlanta has the widest selection of shared kitchen spaces in Georgia. Search for commissary kitchens in your target county, and verify their current permit status directly with the relevant agency before committing to a lease.

Business Formation and Other Requirements

Before you worry about food permits, you need a legal business entity.

Form an LLC with the Georgia Secretary of State. File online at ecorp.sos.ga.gov for $100. Annual registration costs $60/year (a $50 fee plus a mandatory $10 service fee, effective September 6, 2025), due between January 1 and April 1 each year. Miss the April 1 deadline and you owe an extra $25 late penalty.

Get an EIN from the IRS at irs.gov/ein. Free. Takes about 10 minutes online. You need this to open a business bank account and register for state taxes.

Register with the Georgia Department of Revenue at gtc.dor.ga.gov for sales tax if you’re selling taxable food products. Georgia’s base state sales tax is 4%; local rates bring the total to 7-9% depending on your county. Georgia’s income tax sits at a flat 5.19% for 2025, dropping to 5.09% in 2026.

Georgia has no statewide general business license, but your city or county may require a local business license or occupation tax certificate. Check with your city’s business licensing office — this is separate from your food permits.

E-Verify and SAVE affidavits are mandatory for Georgia business license applications, regardless of business size. If you have 11 or more employees, you must register for E-Verify and provide your user number. Under 11 employees, you file an exemption affidavit. Either way, you must also complete a SAVE Affidavit verifying lawful US presence — notarized, with a Secure and Verifiable Document. Under O.C.G.A. § 36-60-6 and § 50-36-1, these aren’t optional.

Workers’ compensation insurance kicks in at three employees in Georgia, including part-time workers and officers. If you hire even a part-time delivery driver and a prep cook, you’re at three. Check with the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation at sbwc.georgia.gov.

Startup Costs at a Glance

Numbers vary widely depending on your county, your model, and whether you’re renting kitchen time or building your own facility. Here’s a realistic range:

Cost Item	Estimate
LLC filing	$100 (+ $60/year renewal)
County health permit — ghost kitchen	$100–$1,000+
GDA Food Sales Establishment license — meal prep	Varies by operation
Commissary kitchen rental	$500–$2,000/month
Food packaging and labeling	$500–$2,000 initial
Business insurance (general liability)	$1,000–$3,000/year
Website and ordering platform	$500–$2,000

Total lean startup using a shared kitchen: $4,000–$10,000.

That assumes you’re renting kitchen time, keeping packaging simple, and using an existing delivery platform rather than building a custom ordering system.

Total for a dedicated kitchen build-out: $25,000–$100,000+.

The range is wide because commercial kitchen construction costs vary enormously based on the space, the equipment, and what condition the facility starts in. A raw shell space with no hood ventilation and no grease trap is very different from a space that was previously a restaurant kitchen. Get contractor quotes and factor in plan review and permit fees before you commit to a lease.

The Path Forward

The right starting move depends on your model.

Ghost kitchen: Contact your county health department first. Ask about plan review requirements, permit fees, and timeline. Then find your commercial kitchen space — either a shared kitchen or your own build-out. Get plan review submitted before you sign a long-term lease on a space.

Meal prep: Start with GDA at agr.georgia.gov. Download the Food Sales Establishment application, understand the product line menu requirement, and verify that your intended kitchen space meets GDA’s commercial kitchen standards. Finalize your menu before you apply — adding products later means updating your submission.

Both: Yes, it’s more work. But it’s not unmanageable. Many operations run both models out of the same kitchen with permits from both agencies. Just don’t assume one covers the other.

Form the LLC, get the EIN, then go get your food permits. In that order. The permits are the long pole in the tent — DPH and GDA both take time, and you can’t legally operate until they’re issued. Start the application process earlier than feels necessary.