New York Food Safety Consultant
HACCP, Preventive Controls, and SQF programs for food and beverage makers from the five boroughs to the far reaches of Upstate.
No state packs more variety into its food economy than New York. A Brooklyn commissary, a Hudson Valley cidery, an Upstate yogurt plant, and a Finger Lakes winery share a state but almost nothing else about their hazards, their buyers, or their inspections. Nearly all of them answer to the same state license, and in the city, to a second layer on top. Wherever you make food in New York, we do the hands-on work of building or upgrading your food safety plans, prerequisite programs, and traceability, then rehearse the audit so nothing surprises you. We build it with your team, not as a course you finish alone.
- 500+
- GFSI audits by Dave Seddon, our Chief Food Safety Officer
- 8+
- Certification and audit schemes we prepare you for
- 70%
- Less time spent on compliance documentation
One license, one state, and a dozen different food economies
New York is really many food states in one. Downstate, New York City is a dense engine of specialty, ethnic, ready-to-eat, and commissary production feeding the largest restaurant and retail market in the country. Upstate and out on the Island, the story turns agricultural: New York is a national leader in dairy and one of the birthplaces of the American Greek yogurt boom, a top producer of apples and cider, and a major wine state, with snack and packaged-food plants clustered around Rochester and Buffalo. What unites them is the state's Article 20-C food processing license, and what complicates them is everything else. We work across the whole map and tailor the program to your region, product, and buyers.
The two New Yorks that keep our consultants busy
NEW YORK CITY AND DOWNSTATE
Dense, fast, and endlessly specialized
The city's food manufacturing lives in tight quarters and moves fast: ethnic and specialty producers, ready-to-eat and prepared foods, bakeries, and commissaries in Hunts Point, Long Island City, Sunset Park, and Maspeth, feeding restaurants and retail across the metro. Space is scarce, turnover is high, and both the state and the city want to see a real program.
- RTE and prepared-food pathogen and sanitation control
- Allergen control in shared, high-mix facilities
- Commissary and central-kitchen HACCP at volume
- Article 20-C plus the NYC health layer
UPSTATE, THE ISLAND, AND THE VALLEY
Agricultural, seasonal, and scaling up
Beyond the city, New York food is grown and made close to the land: dairy and Greek yogurt plants, apple and cider producers, wineries and craft beverage, cheese, maple, and the snack and packaged-food plants of Western New York. These operations wrestle with seasonality, farm-based sourcing, and the jump from regional favorite to national retail supplier.
- Dairy and yogurt HACCP and dairy permitting
- Acidified cider, sauces, and canned goods with filed processes
- Produce Safety Rule and farm-to-plant controls
- SQF and GFSI readiness for national retail buyers
The same standard, tuned to what each part of New York makes
Manufacturing concentrates differently across the state, and each cluster brings its own products, hazards, and audits. A sampling of where we work:
DOWNSTATE - NYC and the boroughs
Specialty, ethnic, RTE, bakery, and commissary manufacturing serving the metro's restaurants and retail.
MID-HUDSON - Hudson Valley
Farm-based foods, cideries, craft beverage, and prepared-food makers between the city and the Capital Region.
WESTERN NEW YORK - Rochester and Buffalo
Snack foods, sauces, dairy, and packaged-goods manufacturing anchoring the state's western corridor.
LONG ISLAND - The Island and the East End
Seafood processing, wineries, and specialty producers from Nassau and Suffolk out to the North Fork.
CENTRAL AND FINGER LAKES - Dairy and wine country
Greek yogurt and dairy plants, wineries, and cheese makers across the Finger Lakes and Central New York.
CAPITAL AND NORTH COUNTRY - Albany and beyond
Beverage, bakery, and specialty producers, plus distribution serving the northeast corridor.
Who holds your license depends on what you make, and where
Most New York food manufacturers answer to the state, and in New York City many answer to the city as well. Sorting out the layers early keeps a launch or a renewal on track.
Statewide
NYS Agriculture & Markets
- Article 20-C food processing license for food and beverage manufacturers, with fees scaled by size
- Covers baking, meat grinding, spice blending and dehydrating, canning, and RTE repacking
- Home canning of fruits and vegetables is not allowed, it must be done under 20-C
- Dairy adds a Milk Control and Dairy Services permit, and alcohol counts as a food or beverage
New York City
NYC Health and agencies
- City operations layer NYC requirements on top of the state 20-C license
- On-site retail and food-service preparation can trigger city permits and a Food Protection Certificate
- Wholesale markets and city agencies often ask for your 20-C license number
- We help you line up the state and city pieces so neither one stalls your opening
Working in one New York market? Start close to home
We support food and beverage manufacturers across the entire state, on-site and remotely. Whether your plant sits in a borough, out on the Island, up the Hudson, or in the western corridor, we bring the same program to your door.
New York City
Specialty, ethnic, RTE, bakery, and commissary manufacturing across the five boroughs.
Long Island
Seafood, wine, and specialty producers across Nassau and Suffolk.
Hudson Valley
Cideries, craft beverage, and farm-based food makers up the river corridor.
Rochester & Buffalo
Snack, sauce, dairy, and packaged-goods plants across Western New York.
Finger Lakes
Dairy, Greek yogurt, wineries, and cheese producers in the heart of the state.
Right-sized programs for how New York makes and moves food
Specialty and ethnic producers
The city's diverse specialty, ethnic, and prepared-food makers moving into wholesale and retail.
Dairy and yogurt plants
Milk, cheese, and Greek yogurt operations under dairy permitting and HACCP.
Cider, wine, and craft beverage
Cideries, wineries, and beverage makers handling acidification, process filings, and licensing.
Bakeries and snack foods
Commercial bakeries and Western New York snack and sauce plants scaling into national retail.
Commissaries and RTE
High-volume commissaries and ready-to-eat producers with heavy pathogen-control needs.
Seafood, produce, and co-packers
Long Island seafood, farm produce, and contract manufacturers serving many brand customers.
Whatever your buyers, licenses, and inspectors require
We prepare New York facilities for the certifications and regulatory frameworks that retailers, distributors, and inspectors expect, then keep the program running between audits.
HACCP
SQF
BRCGS
FSSC 22000
FSMA Preventive Controls
GMP and cGMP
USDA
GFSI-aligned
Software that keeps a multi-site New York operation organized
Consulting gets you certified. The platform keeps you ready. Built with expert food safety guidance and tailored to different industries, it produces the organized records that auditors, buyers, and New York inspectors expect to see.
AI HACCP Builder
Pre-built templates cut HACCP plan development from hours to minutes, with expert guidance built in.
AI SOPs and Checklists
Automatically generates SOPs and checklists, flags missed tasks, and keeps protocols on track.
Batch & Inventory
Real-time tracking of production, inventory, and cost, reducing errors that create compliance gaps.
Traceability and Recall
Links ingredients to finished products for fast mock recalls and clean, defensible audits.
Supplier Compliance
Automates supplier document management and updates, cutting manual effort and adding transparency.
Live Monitoring and Alerts
Dashboards track KPIs in real time and send instant alerts on incidents so you can act quickly.
A consistent method, wherever your plant sits in New York
Assess
We review your operation against your target standard and New York licensing, state and city where it applies, ending in a prioritized plan tied to your date.
Build
We create or refine hazard analysis, preventive controls, SOPs, dairy or acidified filings where needed, supplier approval, and traceability.
Verify
We design environmental monitoring and sanitation controls so the program holds up under real production conditions.
Rehearse
We run a mock audit, coach your recordkeepers, and close remaining gaps with effective corrective actions before the real thing.
Co-Founder & Chief Food Safety Officer
Meet the Lead of Our Expert New York Food Safety Consultant Team
Driven to ensure organizational requirements meet the challenges of technology integration with sound food safety and quality planning with focus on risk mitigation and prevention. Technical expertise in audit standards, lead instructor via accredited programs, and community leader to advance local / national food ecosystems.
What food and beverage teams say about working with us
"FoodReady keeps us organized, and professional. Most importantly it keeps us accountable and transparent as a business."
"Checklists and task manager are my absolute favorite parts of FoodReady. Checklists are extremely easy to make. I can adapt them to fit my team's needs and change them at any time."
"Task Manager is phenomenal. I love being able to establish reoccurring tasks, monitor progress, and assign the checklists that need to be completed for each task. This keeps my team accountable and gives me ease of monitoring."
"FoodReady has given us the ability to hold off on hiring staff that I would have needed for document monitoring. If I did not have FoodReady then I would have needed to hire additional technicians and for our young company, it is a hard thing to do."
New York food safety consulting, answered
What is an Article 20-C license and do we need one?
Article 20-C is New York's food processing establishment license, issued by the Department of Agriculture and Markets, and most businesses that manufacture, process, or package food or beverages for wholesale need one. It covers activities from baking and meat grinding to spice blending, canning, and repacking ready-to-eat foods. Fees scale with the size of your operation.
We run a dairy or Greek yogurt plant Upstate. What applies?
Dairy operations generally need both an Article 20-C food processing license and a Milk Control and Dairy Services permit, plus HACCP and strong environmental monitoring for Listeria. We build the dairy-specific program and get you ready for both state oversight and retail buyer audits.
Do you serve our part of the state?
Yes. We work with manufacturers across all of New York, from the five boroughs and Long Island to the Hudson Valley, the Finger Lakes, and the Rochester and Buffalo corridor, on-site and remotely, including rural and agricultural regions.
We operate in New York City. Is the state license enough?
Often not on its own. City operations typically hold the state 20-C license and also meet New York City requirements, and on-site retail or food-service preparation can trigger city permits and a Food Protection Certificate. City agencies frequently ask for your 20-C number. We help you line up the state and city pieces together.
Can you prepare us for SQF, BRCGS, or other GFSI audits?
Yes. We prepare facilities for SQF, BRCGS, and FSSC 22000, plus HACCP, FSMA Preventive Controls, GMP and cGMP, and USDA documentation. We run gap assessments, build documentation, run mock audits, and coach staff. We do not provide certification training.
We make cider or other acidified products. What is required?
Acidified and low-acid products such as cider, sauces, and canned goods need a filed process and a recognized process authority, alongside your 20-C license. We build the process documentation, controls, and records those products and licenses demand.
Talk to a food safety expert about your New York operation
Book a free consultation with our food safety and quality team, and get a clear path to your next New York license, audit, or inspection.
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.