Guides
The launch checklist
Everything between a recipe and a retail shelf, in the order it actually needs doing. Print it, work through it, ignore the half that does not apply to you. Nothing to sign up for.
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.
Before anything else
- Write the formulation down by weight, not by cups — you will need it for costing, labeling and any process authority
- Cost one real batch including packaging, labels and your own hours at a real rate
- Decide the shelf price you are aiming at, and work the wholesale price back from it
Work out which rules apply
- Establish whether the product is acidified: added acid, finished equilibrium pH at or below 4.6, water activity above 0.85, and not one of the foods 21 CFR 114.3(b) leaves out (carbonated drinks, jams and jellies, some condiment sauces, refrigerated foods)
- If it is, line up a process authority before scaling the recipe
- Find out whether the place you make it must register with the FDA: a private residence is not a facility, and farms, restaurants and retail food establishments do not register. If it must, it is free
- Check your state's cottage food rules if you are starting at home, including whether wholesale is permitted at all: it differs by state
Make it sellable
- Build the label: identity, net quantity, ingredients in descending order, allergens, and your name and place of business
- Decide whether you need a Nutrition Facts panel, or whether an exemption applies and you want one anyway
- License a GTIN from GS1 for each sellable variation — never a resold barcode
- Establish a best-by date you can defend, and write down how you got there
Make it traceable
- Give every batch a lot code and record what went into it
- Keep ingredient delivery records with supplier lot numbers
- Record pH, water activity and fill temperature per batch against your limits
- Be able to answer: this lot, made this day, from these deliveries, shipped to these customers
Approach a buyer
- Have case pack, case cost, minimum order and lead time ready, identical everywhere they appear
- Put a one-page sell sheet together — what it is, why it sells, those four numbers, your contact
- Get product liability insurance quoted before a buyer asks for a certificate
- Agree payment terms in writing before the first delivery, not after the first late payment
Or have it built for your product
ShelfStep turns this into a dated plan for your specific product — what decides which regulatory path applies, what to capture at each step, and the records a buyer asks for. The demo has a salsa already partway through.
Open the demo →One caveat
This is general information for U.S. food businesses, not legal advice, and rules change. Check it against the sources below and against your own state's rules before you rely on it.
The guides go into each of these properly, with sources.
Questions about any of this? Email hello@shelfstep.com.