i.
find your outlet type
Different outlets, different pathways.
Every outlet type in Singapore has a slightly different regulatory pathway. Click the type that matches your concept to see what's involved.
Central Kitchen /
Food Factory.
Central kitchens and food manufacturing operations are licensed under a distinct SFA pathway — the Food Processing licence rather than the Food Shop licence — with different layout requirements, NEA considerations, and M&E specifications. If you're setting up to supply multiple outlets or operate food manufacturing at scale, the regulatory complexity is significantly higher than a standard retail setup.
IN DEPTH
Central kitchens and food manufacturing sit under a materially different regulatory framework from retail outlets. The Singapore Food Agency Food Processing licence has distinct requirements around production, waste, pest control, process flow, and facility design. Industrial kitchen mechanical and electrical work is more demanding and needs professional layout planning from day one. If you're scaling to supply multiple outlets or manufacturing at scale, start this conversation early, because the decisions you make at unit selection dictate the capacity of your business.
Bar /
Nightlife.
Bar and nightlife concepts carry the most complex licensing requirements of any F&B category. Beyond the standard SFA Food Shop Licence and SCDF Fire Safety Certificate, you'll need an SPF Liquor Licence and — for venues with live music, DJs, or entertainment — an SPF Public Entertainment Licence. URA change of use implications for nightlife venues are also more involved, as many commercial spaces are not approved for entertainment use.
IN DEPTH
Bar and nightlife operators in Singapore must navigate a multi-agency licensing process that is meaningfully more complex than a standard restaurant setup. The SPF Liquor Licence requires separate application and documentation from SFA, and the Public Entertainment Licence carries its own compliance requirements around operating hours, venue capacity, and permitted activities. URA permissible use for entertainment is a distinct category from F&B use, which means some units require a change of use application before any other licensing can proceed. Understanding the correct sequencing across SFA, URA, SCDF, and SPF is critical — an error in order of operations can add months to your timeline.
Restaurant /
Café.
Full table-service and café concepts require an SFA Food Shop Licence, URA permissible use verification, SCDF Fire Safety Certificate, and QP endorsement if located in a mall. Concepts serving alcohol additionally require an SPF Liquor Licence. Approval timelines typically run 6–10 weeks from lease signing if submissions are clean — delays most commonly occur at the URA Change of Use stage.
IN DEPTH
Opening a restaurant or café in Singapore involves a sequence of regulatory approvals that must be completed in the correct order. The SFA Food Shop Licence is non-negotiable — no food establishment can legally operate without it. Before SFA will process your application, your unit must have the correct URA permissible use, your layout must meet SFA's requirements for food preparation, washing facilities, and waste management, and your renovation must be completed in compliance with approved plans. For mall tenants, a Qualified Person endorsement of fit-out plans and a Fire Safety Certificate from SCDF are typically required before the landlord will issue a handover. Secret Sauce manages this entire sequence — from pre-lease unit assessment through to opening day.
Bakery /
Pastry.
Bakeries require an SFA Food Shop Licence with specific exhaust and ventilation configurations that vary depending on your equipment — ovens, proofing chambers, fryers each carry different requirements. If you're moving from home-based baking to your first physical premises, there are specific SFA considerations for this transition that we navigate regularly.
IN DEPTH
Setting up a bakery or pastry shop in Singapore requires careful attention to exhaust and ventilation compliance — a detail that catches many first-time operators off guard. The type and volume of equipment you plan to operate directly affects the exhaust specifications required, which in turn affects your layout approval with SFA. For home bakers making the transition to a brick-and-mortar premise, there are specific SFA considerations around the change in scale and operating environment. The unit suitability assessment is particularly important for bakeries, as not every commercial space can accommodate the exhaust requirements of a production kitchen without significant and costly retrofitting.
Takeaway
Kiosk.
Takeaway kiosks — whether in malls, HDB estates, or shophouses — are subject to the same SFA Food Shop Licence requirement as full restaurants, but the specific pathway differs by premises type and landlord. Mall and corporate landlords may have their own expectations on top of regulatory submissions.
IN DEPTH
Kiosk operators in Singapore often underestimate the regulatory complexity of their format relative to its physical scale. The SFA Food Shop Licence is required regardless of kiosk size, and the layout requirements must be met within the footprint of the kiosk itself, which requires careful design from the outset. Instead of URA permission, kiosks located on HDB premises require HDB’s written permission. Mall kiosks typically require landlord-specific documentation and build requirements alongside regulatory submissions, and the joint inspection process must be coordinated alongside SCDF.
Stage 01
Find.
"The right space changes everything."
Before you sign anything, we help you evaluate whether a unit is right for your concept — legally, operationally, and commercially. Our equity partner is a licensed property agent specialising in F&B tenancies, supported by a network of referral agents across the market.
ii.
Unit Suitability Assessment
Not every space is approved for F&B use. We check URA permissible use, existing fixtures, exhaust viability, and concept compatibility — so you know exactly what you're walking into before a single dollar is committed to renovation.
i.
Lease Advisory
Our property expert evaluates shortlisted units against your concept, size needs, and footfall requirements. We benchmark rental, check landlord terms, and identify structural red flags, before you're committed to a lease and paying a deposit.
Stage 03
Build.
"From empty space to inspection-ready."
Licences are in motion. Now the physical space has to come together, and this is where most owners discover how many vendors, drawings, and decisions they didn't know they'd need. We coordinate all of them so nothing falls between lease signing and opening day.
iii.
Project Management
We act as your single point of contact across every workstream — licensing, renovation, vendors, equipment, and compliance — from lease signing to opening day. Available as a standalone engagement or bundled with any combination of our services.
ii.
Kitchen Equipment & Exhaust Setup
We work with kitchen equipment and exhaust vendors we've stress-tested on dozens of openings. The right setup from day one is cheaper than the right setup after a failed inspection.
i.
Site Survey, Planning & Layout
Professional floor plans and layout drawings for licence submissions, landlord proposals, or URA/HDB applications — without needing to engage a contractor or interior designer prematurely. We get the job done affordably so you can secure the unit you want.
ii.
frequently asked
The questions we hear most often.
Practical, regulator-accurate answers to the seven most common questions we get. If yours isn't here, just ask us.
i.
Do I need an F&B consultant to apply for an SFA Food Shop Licence in Singapore?
Technically, no. The SFA Food Shop Licence application can be submitted by the business owner directly through the GoBusiness portal. In practice, first-time applicants frequently encounter rejections or revision requests due to layout non-compliance, incorrect concept classification, or unit suitability issues that weren't identified before submission. Each revision extends your approval timeline — and you're paying rent throughout. Our value is in getting your submission right the first time. To date, we have had zero SFA licence rejections across all client submissions.
ii.
How long how long does it take to get an SFA Food Shop Licence in Singapore?
A clean submission typically approves in 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the extent of your renovations. The full timeline from lease signing to licence is usually longer, especially if a Change of Use is needed first, which can add 4 to 6 weeks. Most delays trace back to incomplete documentation, layout revisions required by the agency, or submissions that don't answer what the agency actually needs. We front-load the work that eliminates those delays.
iii.
What is a URA Change of Use, and does my unit need one?
If your intended use differs from what the Urban Redevelopment Authority or Housing Development Board has approved for the unit, you need to apply. For F&B, your unit's Grant of Written Permission needs to specify Restaurant, Bakery, Canteen, Eating House, Bar/Pub or Takeaway Foodshop. If it doesn't, a Change of Use is required before your Food Shop Licence can be processed. We check this in our unit suitability review, ideally before you sign a lease.
iv.
When should I engage Secret Sauce?
The earlier the better, and ideally before you sign a lease. Our unit suitability and lease advisory services are built for the shortlisting stage, so you don't commit to a space with complications you don't yet know about. That said, we work with clients at every stage, including owners who've already signed and need licence approval fast.
v.
What is the difference between your à la carte services and project management?
Most clients pick specific services, such as SFA licensing, Change of Use, or Fire Safety applications, and do the rest themselves. Project management is for clients who want a single point of contact coordinating everything: licensing, renovation, vendors, kitchen, and compliance. It's especially suited to first-time operators building a business for the first time while trying to open one, and to operators running this alongside another venture.
vi.
Do you work with home bakers transitioning to a physical premises?
Yes — this is a transition we handle regularly. There are specific SFA considerations when moving from a home-based food business to a licensed brick-and-mortar premises, and the unit suitability requirements for a bakery with production equipment are more demanding than for a simple retail food outlet. We guide home bakers through the full transition.
vii.
What software do you set up when we launch?
We set up the systems an outlet needs running from day one: human resources, leave, attendance, and Singapore payroll through OmniHR, and reservations and guest management through SevenRooms. Secret Sauce clients get access to terms we have negotiated with both. We also handle the configuration rather than handing you a login, which is the part that usually gets skipped. What you need depends on your concept, since a four-person kiosk and a 90-seat restaurant taking bookings are different problems. We scope it with you and quote against your actual team size and service model.