Thanks Danks needed USDA approval to grow. Four months later, it was ready.
Thanks Danks was created around a simple idea: beef jerky should taste like beef.
Founded by Garret and Jordan Danks, the company developed a premium jerky made from real cuts of beef and recognizable ingredients rather than fillers and unnecessary additives. Today, the brand positions its products as “steak in a bag,” using grass-fed beef and recipes that are sugar-free, gluten-free, non-GMO, nitrate-free, and made without artificial flavors or liquid smoke.
But producing a great meat product and producing it within a USDA-compliant operation are two different challenges.
As Thanks Danks prepared to expand production in a shared commercial kitchen, it needed a custom HACCP plan, documented SOPs, operational checklists, trained staff, and support preparing for USDA approval.
The company partnered with FoodReady to turn those requirements into a working food safety system.
Within four months, its staff had been trained and its HACCP plan, SOPs, and checklists were fully implemented. Thanks Danks subsequently achieved USDA approval for its beef jerky.
From a growing jerky brand to a USDA-ready food safety operation.
USDA Approved
Successfully achieved
4 months
Team fully trained and food safety program
Custom HACCP
Built specifically around
One System
HACCP, SOPs, checklists, receiving
Digital daily checklists
Ingredient receiving records
Batch cross-checking
Mobile food safety management
A great jerky recipe was ready to grow. The food safety program wasn't there yet.
Thanks Danks had developed a differentiated product around a straightforward philosophy: real beef, recognizable ingredients, and bold flavor without the unnecessary extras common in conventional jerky. But producing meat commercially brings another level of regulatory responsibility.
As the company prepared to operate from shared commercial kitchen space, Thanks Danks needed to build the formal food safety documentation and operating controls required to support USDA-regulated production.
The company needed a custom HACCP plan, documented Standard Operating Procedures, operational checklists, and a reliable way to prove those procedures were being followed. For a growing business, simply creating binders of documents would not be enough.
Thanks Danks also needed a practical system its team could use every day — from receiving ingredients to recording production activities and cross-checking batches. And with USDA approval ahead, the food safety program had to be more than documented. It had to work.
What Thanks Danks needed
- USDA-ready HACCP plan - A food safety plan developed around commercial beef jerky production
- Documented SOPs - Clear procedures employees could consistently follow
- Daily food safety checklists - Routine monitoring converted into documented records
- Ingredient receiving controls - A simple way to capture incoming ingredients and supplies
- Batch visibility - Records that made production and ingredient cross-checking easier
- Employee training - Staff prepared to execute the food safety program consistently
- USDA audit support - Guidance before, during, and after the approval process
How Thanks Danks built the food safety foundation for USDA approval.
Thanks Danks combined FoodReady software with food safety consulting to move from developing documentation to executing a working food safety program.
Food Safety Requirements Assessment
The process started with the requirements of Thanks Danks' beef jerky operation. Because meat processing falls under USDA oversight, the company needed a food safety program built around its actual production process rather than a collection of generic templates.
FoodReady worked with Thanks Danks to identify the documentation, procedures, monitoring activities, and records required to build a more structured operation.
Custom HACCP Plan Development
A custom HACCP plan was developed for Thanks Danks' jerky production process. The plan established the structure needed to identify food safety hazards, define appropriate controls, document monitoring activities, and create records that could support regulatory review.
By developing the HACCP program alongside the software implementation, Thanks Danks could connect its documented food safety requirements with the way employees would execute them in production.
SOPs & Checklists Built Into Daily Operations
FoodReady helped develop the company's Standard Operating Procedures and operational checklists. Instead of leaving procedures in static documents, Thanks Danks could use digital checklists to turn required activities into repeatable daily workflows. That gave the team a clearer way to document whether required food safety tasks had actually been completed.
Ingredient Receiving & Batch Control
Receiving became one of the most useful parts of the FoodReady system for Thanks Danks. Employees could add new ingredients as deliveries arrived and maintain the information needed to cross-check production batches.
This gave the company better visibility into what ingredients had been received, what was being used in production, and what needed to be reordered. For a growing food business, those records helped connect food safety with practical inventory and production control.
Employee Training
A food safety system only creates value when the people using it understand both the procedures and the reason behind them. Thanks Danks employees were trained to work within FoodReady and follow the company's newly developed HACCP plan, SOPs, and checklists.
Within four months, the staff was fully trained and the new food safety program was fully implemented.
USDA Preparation & Audit Support
With the core food safety system in place, Thanks Danks worked through the USDA approval process. FoodReady supported the company with the preparation and documentation surrounding its USDA audits, helping the team navigate both pre-audit and post-audit requirements.
The result was something especially valuable to a small, growing food company: greater confidence that its documentation, procedures, and records were ready when regulators reviewed them. Thanks Danks subsequently received USDA approval for its beef jerky production.
Building for the Next Stage of Growth
USDA approval was not intended to be the finish line. Thanks Danks was building the food safety infrastructure needed to support a larger operation. The company's longer-term goals included pursuing SQF certification, preparing for a Costco audit, and eventually expanding into its own facility. By establishing its HACCP system, SOPs, digital records, and employee workflows early, Thanks Danks created a more scalable foundation for those future requirements.
What FoodReady delivered
Custom HACCP plan
Standard Operating Procedures
Digital food safety checklists
USDA preparation support
Employee food safety training
Ingredient receiving records
Batch cross-checking
Mobile checklist management
Food safety documentation
Audit support
Proof that matters, to auditors and to buyers.
Thanks Danks moved from needing a formal food safety program to operating with implemented HACCP controls, trained employees, digital records, and USDA approval.
Within four months of beginning the FoodReady implementation, the Thanks Danks team was fully trained and its HACCP plan, SOPs, and checklists were fully operational. The platform gave employees a practical way to complete food safety activities instead of treating compliance as a separate administrative exercise.
Receiving new ingredients became easier to document. Production batches became easier to cross-check. Daily checklists created accountability around required procedures. And when the USDA approval process arrived, Thanks Danks did not have to start building its system from scratch. The company had already been putting it into practice.
Thanks Danks subsequently achieved USDA approval for its beef jerky, helping turn food safety from a regulatory obstacle into part of the infrastructure supporting the brand's growth.
"We are in the midst of our USDA audits and could not have survived any of the pre/post audit stuff without FoodReady."
Compliance was important. Confidence was just as important.
HACCP built around the actual operation
Instead of relying on generic documentation, Thanks Danks received a HACCP program developed around the requirements of its beef jerky process.
Checklists employees could actually use
Digital checklists transformed procedures into daily tasks that could be completed and documented without adding unnecessary complexity for employees.
Receiving connected to production
Thanks Danks particularly valued how easily ingredients could be entered from deliveries and cross-checked against batches, making food safety records more useful operationally.
Support beyond the software
Preparing for USDA oversight involves questions, corrections, documentation, and follow-up.
FoodReady combined its software platform with food safety consulting to help Thanks Danks through the process rather than leaving the company to interpret requirements on its own.
Ready to take the next step with us?
In 15–30 minutes we'll map FoodReady to your process, plug in your real HACCP plan, and show you the auditor's view before the call ends.
Speak with our Expert Consultants
15–30 minutes. We map FoodReady to your process, plug in your real HACCP plan, and show you the auditor view before the call ends.