How to Start a Home Food (Tiffin) Business in Pakistan

To start a home food or tiffin business in Pakistan, begin with a small menu you cook consistently well, set your prices from real ingredient costs, take orders in advance through WhatsApp, and register properly as you grow: a provincial food authority license, an NTN with FBR, and a business account for payments. Monthly tiffin plans for office workers, students and families are the most reliable way to build steady income from a home kitchen.

Home food businesses have grown fast in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and other cities because many working people and students living away from home want ghar ka khana at a fair price. The startup cost is low, but success depends on hygiene, consistency, delivery timing and pricing that actually leaves a profit. This guide covers each step, with a costing example in rupees.

Choose your home food business model

Model	How it works	Best for
Tiffin (lunch box) service	Fixed daily menu delivered to offices, hostels or homes on a monthly plan	Steady, predictable income
Frozen food	Kababs, samosas, rolls, parathas sold in packs	Batch cooking, Ramzan demand
Party and event orders	Biryani, qorma, desserts by the kg or degh	Higher ticket sizes, weekend work
Baking	Cakes, cookies, bread, desserts	Custom orders and gifting
Healthy or diet meals	Calorie-counted, low-oil meal plans	Urban professionals, gyms

Start with one model. A tiffin service and party orders need different schedules, and trying both from day one often means late lunches and stressed weekends. Readers interested in planned weekly meals can also see our new guide on how to start a meal prep business.

How to start a home food business in Pakistan: step by step

1. Test your menu. Cook for friends, colleagues or neighbours for two to three weeks. Note which dishes get repeat requests and how long each takes.
2. Fix your costs. Weigh ingredients per portion and calculate cost per meal (see the example below).
3. Set up your kitchen for hygiene. Separate storage for raw and cooked food, a working fridge and freezer, clean water, covered bins, hair covering and handwashing.
4. Buy proper packaging. Leak-proof containers, labels with the dish name and date, and insulated bags for delivery.
5. Create a WhatsApp Business profile. Add your menu, prices, delivery areas and order cut-off time.
6. Arrange delivery. Use your own rider, a family member, or local courier and ride services for nearby deliveries.
7. Register with your provincial food authority when you start selling regularly or supplying businesses.
8. Register for tax. Get your NTN and plan to file an annual return.
9. Open a business payment account. Keep business payments separate from personal money.

Food authority license for a home kitchen

Food safety in Pakistan is regulated at the provincial level. The Punjab Food Authority, Sindh Food Authority and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority license food businesses and can inspect premises. According to the Punjab Food Authority licensing wing, the license fee depends on the scale and nature of the business, the application is verified by an inspection team, and the license is valid for one year. If you sell a packaged product under your own brand, the PFA also runs a separate product registration process, with a listed fee of Rs5,800.

Practical tips: keep your kitchen inspection-ready, make sure anyone handling food is healthy and follows hygiene rules (food authorities commonly ask for medical fitness certificates for food handlers), and label packaged food with ingredients, date of preparation and storage instructions. Offices, cafes and delivery platforms increasingly ask home chefs for a license, so registering early opens more doors.

NTN, filer status and tax on home food income

Profit from selling food is business income. Once your total income is above the exemption threshold in the current income tax slabs for 2026-27, you owe income tax on it. Even below that level, getting an NTN and filing a return helps you become an active taxpayer and avoid higher withholding rates on banking, vehicle and property transactions.

• Get your NTN through IRIS: see how to get an NTN number in Pakistan.
• File your annual return and join the active taxpayer list: see how to become a filer in Pakistan.
• If you want a registered business name, read about sole proprietorship registration in Pakistan.

Keep a simple record of every order and every expense (groceries, gas, packaging, delivery) so you can calculate real profit. This is general information, not tax advice; consult a tax practitioner for your situation.

How to price your tiffin service

Price from cost, not from guesswork. Here is an illustrative example for a daily lunch tiffin (salan, roti or rice, salad) in a large city. Prices are examples only; check your local market rates.

Worked example: cost per tiffin (illustrative)

Item	Cost per meal (Rs)
Ingredients (chicken or vegetable salan, rice or 2 rotis, salad)	210
Container, lid, bag	35
Gas and electricity share	20
Delivery (rider cost spread over 15 meals per route)	40
Total cost	305

If you price the tiffin at Rs420, you earn Rs115 per meal. On a monthly plan of 22 working days, one customer pays Rs9,240 and brings about Rs2,530 in profit. Thirty customers bring about Rs75,900 a month in profit for your time and effort, before tax. If you price at Rs350, profit drops to Rs45 per meal and one wasted batch can wipe out a week's earnings. Review costs every month, because ingredient prices move quickly.

Kitchen setup and hygiene checklist

Hygiene is what turns one-time buyers into monthly tiffin customers, and it is what a food authority inspector will look at first. Before you scale up, make sure your kitchen meets these basics:

• Separate shelves or containers for raw meat, vegetables and cooked food, and separate cutting boards for raw and cooked items.
• A fridge that holds food cold and a freezer for batch-cooked items, with nothing stored on the floor.
• Safe drinking water for cooking, ideally filtered, and clean utensils washed with hot water and soap.
• Covered bins, regular pest control and no pets in the cooking area.
• Clean aprons, hair covering and handwashing before every batch; nobody cooks while ill.
• Labels on every container with the dish name and date, and a rule that leftovers are never resold.

Plan for load-shedding and gas pressure problems too. A backup for cooking (a second gas cylinder or an induction plate with a UPS or generator) protects your delivery times, and a reliable fridge backup protects stored food. Customers forgive a late delivery once; they rarely forgive food that made them ill.

Finding your first customers

Start with people who already know you: colleagues, neighbours, family groups and nearby hostels. Offer a trial week at the regular price rather than a heavy discount, then ask happy customers to share your menu in their office or building WhatsApp groups. Office managers, coaching centres and small factories are good targets for bulk lunch orders. Post photos of real meals, not stock images, and display your delivery areas and order cut-off clearly so customers know what to expect.

Taking orders, payments and invoices

Most home food businesses run on WhatsApp. Post the weekly menu every Sunday, set an order cut-off (for example 9 pm for next-day lunch), and keep a simple sheet of customer names, addresses, plans and payment status. For monthly plans, collect payment in advance at the start of the month.

Accept bank transfers, Raast business payments and mobile wallets; our guide to a JazzCash or Easypaisa business account explains the options. Send each customer an invoice for their monthly plan or party order showing the dates, number of meals, price per meal, any delivery charge and amount paid. Offices that reimburse staff or order for events will often insist on one. You can send it directly in chat; see how to send an invoice on WhatsApp.

Growing a home food business

• Corporate tiffin contracts. Small offices often prefer one supplier for daily staff lunches; invoice them monthly.
• Frozen items for Ramzan and Eid. Take pre-orders weeks in advance.
• Delivery apps. Platforms widen your reach but charge commission, so raise app prices or keep your best customers on direct orders.
• Hire help. A helper for chopping and packing lets you serve more customers without lowering quality.
• Move to a commercial kitchen when home space, neighbours or licensing limits your growth. Our guide on starting a catering business covers the next step.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Pricing below cost to win customers, then being unable to raise prices.
• Changing taste and portion size from day to day.
• Late deliveries; office lunch customers cancel quickly when food arrives late.
• Taking unlimited orders on Eid or wedding season and failing to deliver.
• Mixing household and business money, which hides whether you are actually profitable.
• Not keeping written records of orders and payments, which makes tax filing and customer disputes much harder.

Send monthly tiffin invoices and party order receipts in minutes with our free invoice generator. Add your meals, rupee prices and payment details, then download a PDF to share on WhatsApp, with no sign-up.