Temporary and mobile trading

If you operate a mobile food vehicle, food stall, food vending machine or a water transport vehicle you need to register with your principal Council. FoodTrader is an online database for temporary and mobile food operators, which allows you to do that:

Visit FoodTrader

Your principal council is:

  • Where your business prepares or stores food to be sold from a van, stall, or vending machine; or
  • The district in which you usually store the equipment for a stall, or garage your food van or water transport vehicle; or
  • If none of the above apply - the district where your business address is located; or
  • If none of the above are in Victoria - the district where your mobile or temporary food business will first operate in Victoria.

Once you have created a FoodTrader account and applied for a food premises registration on FoodTrader, an Environmental Health Officer will contact you to discuss any further requirements. All fees will be invoiced from Frankston City and once a final inspection has been completed, a Certificate of Registered will be issued to you by email. For all temporary events, you must lodge a Statement of Trade (SOT) at least 24 hours prior to each event.

If you are storing or preparing foods for the markets in your home, you must Apply for Home Based Food Business Registration.  

All food that is prepared, handled, or stored and intended for sale must be prepared in a registered food premises.

For further information on setting up a temporary food premises, please refer to the Temporary Food Premises Guidelines(PDF, 2MB) produced by the Barwon-South Western Region group of Councils.

Mobile Food Van Procurement Guidelines

On 21 August 2023, Council adopted the new Mobile Food Van Procurement Guidelines, which provide details to operators about how to obtain a license for one of our Food Van sites.

Following a request from a local resident for a new mobile food van site on Wedge Road, Council is pleased to announce a new site at the Carrum Downs Recreation Reserve.

The site will be offered via an Expression of Interest Procurement process and will be open for submissions at https://frankston.etenderbox.com.au/ListCurrentTenders.aspx from 31 May 2025 until 3.00pm 25 June 2025.

Following the assessment process, the successful applicant will be offered a licence agreement until the end of June 2026 – to align with Councils existing program and licence agreements. 

Guidelines, including details of the site on offer, eligibility and assessment criteria can be found here(PDF, 8MB).

We do not permit roaming of mobile food vehicles within Frankston City Council. Please refer to the Mobile Food Van Procurement Guidelines(PDF, 8MB) or for future Council run events, you can Get Involved in Council Run Events. 

We have the following Frankston City sites available for long term licence agreements:

  • Overport Park
  • Sandfield Reserve
  • Lloyd Park
  • Robinsons Reserve
  • Seaford North Reserve

Please read the Mobile Food Van Procurement Guidelines for all details relating to fees, specific locations, terms and conditions.

To apply for one or more of these sites, please complete the application form and send it to businessconcierge@frankston.vic.gov.au.

If you would like any further information or to speak to our Business Concierge about starting a Mobile Food Van business, please call 1300 322 322 and ask for the Business Concierge or email businessconcierge@frankston.vic.gov.au  

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