To start a coffee business in Iraq, map the concept (cart, café, or roastery) and execute the legal stack: reserve a trade name and register your company at the Ministry of Trade (Companies Registration), join your local Chamber of Commerce, obtain a tax card from the General Commission for Taxes, secure a municipal commercial license and health approvals, pass Civil Defense fire-safety inspection, issue employee health cards, and enroll staff with the Social Security Department; in the Kurdistan Region, complete parallel filings with KR-I Company Registration and the municipality. Lock a notarized lease, get signage permission, and choose a high-footfall site (e.g., Baghdad’s Karrada, Mosul University area, Erbil/Ankawa) with parking and generator access. Importing beans requires importer registration, a customs broker, HS 0901 classification, certificate of origin, phytosanitary, and port clearance via Umm Qasr or Ibrahim Khalil; if roasting, notify the environment directorate and install chaff filtration. Build reliability: dedicated generator contract, UPS for grinders/EPOS, 3-stage filtration and target 70–120 ppm TDS water. Payments: cash-first, add bank POS plus ZainCash/AsiaHawala. Operations: standardize recipes (18 g espresso, 1:2 ratio in 28–32 s) and training; price from landed COGS + rent + fuel. Launch on Instagram/TikTok; partner with Talabatey/Lezzoo. Timeline: 4–8 weeks.
