Guides
Guides
The questions that stop people on the way from a kitchen to a shelf. Every page cites the eCFR or FDA material it draws on, so you can go and read the source yourself rather than take our word for it.
General information, not advice. This is written for small food makers and cites its sources, but it is not legal, regulatory or food-safety advice, and it cannot account for your product, your state or your facility. Rules change and thresholds are adjusted yearly. Confirm anything you are about to act on with your state agency, a Process Authority, or the FDA.
The launch checklistEvery step between a recipe and a shelf, in order. Free, nothing to sign up for.Do I need to register with the FDA to sell my food product?Most people making packaged food for wholesale do need to register the facility, and it is free. Who has to register, who is exempt, and the renewal nobody tells you about.4 min readDoes my sauce or salsa need a scheduled process?Add acid to a low-acid food and finish at pH 4.6 or below with water activity above 0.85, and it is likely acidified, unless it is one the rule leaves out: carbonated drinks, jams and jellies, some condiment sauces, refrigerated foods. There is no small-producer exemption.5 min readDoes my label need a Nutrition Facts panel?There are two small-business exemptions from nutrition labeling, they work differently, and one of them you usually have to claim every year. Which applies, and what voids both.4 min readWhat should I charge a store for my product?Work backwards from the shelf price, not forwards from your costs. The margin stack that decides whether a retailer can take you, and why most first line sheets are priced wrong.5 min readCan I sell food made in my home kitchen?Cottage food laws let you sell some foods from home. Many stop at direct-to-consumer, and some let a home kitchen sell to shops on conditions — the line to check before a shop stocks you.5 min readDo I need a barcode, and where do I get one?If a shop scans at the till, you need a real GTIN licensed to your company. Cheap resold barcodes are the trap — retailers check the database and suspend listings that do not match.4 min readHow do I find and choose a co-packer?What to ask before you send a recipe, what minimum run sizes really mean for your cash, and the questions that separate a co-packer who can make your product from one who says yes to everything.5 min readHow do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?A best-by date is a claim you have to be able to defend. How makers actually establish one, why guessing is a problem, and what a retailer needs from the answer.4 min readWhat does a retail buyer actually ask for?The questions that arrive in the first reply, why a vague answer stalls the conversation, and the small set of documents that makes you look like a supplier rather than a hobby.4 min readHow to sell sauce packets to restaurants: case prices, samples and weekly deliveriesWhat a restaurant or a takeout kitchen asks before it tries a case of packets, the questions to agree before the first weekly delivery, and the records to keep.4 min read
Questions about any of this? Email hello@shelfstep.com.