Portland Food Safety Consultant
HACCP, Preventive Controls, and SQF programs for Portland's brewers, makers, and artisan food brands.
Few cities pour and produce like Portland. It is one of the great craft-beverage capitals, dense with breweries, cideries, distilleries, and kombucha and specialty drink makers, wrapped in a maker culture of artisan bakeries, chocolate, and organic packaged foods, and fed by the Willamette Valley's hazelnuts, berries, and hops just beyond the city. Many of these businesses started small and are now scaling into distribution, retail, and multi-state sales, where a real food safety program stops being optional. 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 led by our Chief Food Safety Officer Dave Seddon
- 8+
- Certification and audit schemes we prepare you for
- 70%
- Less time spent on compliance documentation
Where small-batch craft grows into a shipping brand
Portland's food economy runs on independent producers with real ambition. The city helped define American craft brewing and never slowed down, adding cider, spirits, kombucha, roasted and specialty drinks, and a deep bench of artisan and organic food makers. What ties them together is a growth path: a taproom or a farmers-market brand that catches on and suddenly needs to distribute, land retail accounts, and sell across state lines. That leap is where food safety expectations change fast, and where an unprepared program becomes the thing that holds the brand back. That transition is exactly what we build for.
Fermented, distilled, and bottled, each with its own controls
Beverage production is process-heavy and hazard-specific, and Portland makes nearly every kind. We tailor the food safety and process controls to what is actually in the tank.
Breweries
GMPs, allergen and gluten handling, and process controls for beer, hard seltzer, and RTD lines.
Cideries
Acidification, juice HACCP, and patulin and mycotoxin controls for cider and fruit wine.
Distilleries
Process safety, labeling, and byproduct handling for spirits and canned cocktails.
Kombucha and RTD
Fermentation control, acidity, alcohol thresholds, and cold-chain for live and functional drinks.
Fermentation is a control point, not just a craft
Live cultures, acidity, and alcohol content all drift if they are not controlled and documented, and the line between a soft drink and an alcoholic beverage can turn on a fraction of a percent. We build the monitoring, testing, and records that keep fermented and acidified drinks safe, legal, and consistent batch to batch.
Artisan food and Willamette Valley harvest, side by side
Portland's food makers and the farm country around it bring their own hazards. We match the plan to the product rather than reaching for a single template.
ARTISAN AND ORGANIC FOOD
Bakeries, chocolate, and clean-label brands
Craft bakeries, chocolate and confection makers, and organic packaged brands trade on quality and provenance, which raises rather than lowers the food safety bar.
- Allergen control and changeover on shared craft lines
- Shelf-life, water activity, and preservation for clean labels
- Organic and non-GMO claim support and supplier verification
- SQF and GFSI readiness for grocery and club buyers
VALLEY HARVEST AND SPECIALTY CROPS
Hazelnuts, berries, and value-added produce
Oregon's hazelnut, berry, and specialty-crop bounty feeds packers, freezers, jam and sauce makers, and juice producers with real process and traceability needs.
- Produce Safety Rule and fresh-cut GMP programs
- Acidified filings for jams, sauces, and preserves
- Nut and tree-nut allergen and pathogen controls
- Cold-chain, freezing, and lot-level traceability
In Oregon, first settle which agency is even yours
Oregon licenses food by category through the Department of Agriculture, but a Portland brewpub or taproom kitchen can straddle two agencies, so the first question is who regulates you at all.
Distribution and 3PL
Sanitation, pest control, allergen segregation, and recordkeeping across high-throughput warehouses that hold many brands at once.
- MADE FOR LATER CONSUMPTION
Cold storage and frozen
Temperature monitoring, alarming, and corrective actions that keep refrigerated and frozen product in spec from receiving to dispatch.
- MADE FOR IMMEDIATE CONSUMPTION
Category licenses - ODA FOOD SAFETY
Oregon issues licenses by activity: food processing and warehousing, bakery, retail, meat, eggs, and shellfish. Many producers hold more than one, and processors and warehouses operate under 21 CFR 117.
Acidified and canned foods - ODA / FDA 21 CFR 114
Cider, sauces, and low-acid or acidified foods need a filed process and a process authority, with ODA acting as state inspection authority under cooperative agreement.
Annual renewal and plan review - ODA FOOD SAFETY
Food Safety Program licenses expire on June 30 each year. Plan review is required for retail construction and remodels, and strongly recommended before a processor builds out.
Federal overlays - FDA / TTB / FSMA
Interstate sales bring FDA Preventive Controls, alcohol adds federal TTB obligations, and covered foods bring FSMA 204 traceability.
Who we help from Portland to the valley
Breweries and hard beverage
Beer, seltzer, and RTD makers handling GMPs, allergens, and process controls at growing volume.
Cideries and wineries
Cider, fruit wine, and beverage producers under acidification and juice HACCP rules.
Distilleries
Craft spirits and canned-cocktail makers managing process safety and labeling.
Kombucha and functional drinks
Fermented and functional beverage brands controlling live cultures and acidity.
Artisan and organic food
Bakeries, chocolate, snack, and clean-label brands scaling into wholesale and retail.
Produce, nuts, and co-packers
Hazelnut, berry, and specialty-crop packers, freezers, and contract manufacturers.
The audits that get you onto Northwest shelves
We prepare Portland producers for the certifications and regulatory frameworks that grocery, club, and distribution buyers expect, then keep the program running between audits.
HACCP
SQF
BRCGS
FSSC 22000
FSMA Preventive Controls
GMP and cGMP
USDA
GFSI-aligned
Batch records and monitoring built for small teams
Our consultants get you compliant, and the platform keeps you there. Built with expert guidance and tuned to different industries, it captures the batch, fermentation, and monitoring records craft producers need without adding a full-time job.
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 and 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.
From taproom to certified in four stages
Assess
We confirm which Oregon licenses apply, measure you against your target standard, and deliver a prioritized plan tied to your date.
Build
We create or refine hazard analysis, preventive controls, fermentation and process controls, SOPs, supplier approval, and traceability.
Verify
We design environmental monitoring, sanitation, and batch testing so the program holds up under real production.
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 Portland 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.
Why food and drink teams stay with us
"The flow chart is the first page of every food safety plan and because the FoodReady flow chart is automated you can drill down into the SOPs and checklists that are attached to the FoodReady flow chart without having to create a food safety library of knowledge within your employees and management team (which can be huge binders of documents that your food safety team can spend hours paging through). Because this flow chart is automated with everything attached you will never have to do this again. Everything is within the app."
"FoodReady helps reduce time and complexity in filling out our programs and keeping track of filled-out forms and it has reduced staffing needs."
"Up at Dawn is currently experiencing a savings increase with continuous improvements in technology that enables further streamlining of processes for better efficiency and food safety."
"FoodReady was able to use its software to build out the food safety / HACCP plans for all the Eurobake products and from there build out the necessary SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and necessary checklists. Eurobake passed an FDA inspection within 4 weeks of implementation, passed a GMP audit within the first 3 months, and passed a GFSI audit within the first 8 months. We also passed a Costco audit. Our timeline for preparedness was driven by Eurobake’s needs and it could have been much faster if we did not have so many unique attributes."
What Rose City food and beverage makers ask
We run a brewpub. Does ODA or the county regulate us?
It depends on your predominant activity. Food and drink served for immediate consumption fall under the county health authority, while beer or food you package for retail or distribution falls under the Oregon Department of Agriculture. A brewpub that also cans for retail can touch both, and a long-standing ODA and OHA agreement decides who licenses a combination facility. We help you sort it out.
We make cider or kombucha. What are the key controls?
Fermented and acidified beverages hinge on acidity, live cultures, and alcohol thresholds. Cider often needs a filed acidified process and juice HACCP, and kombucha needs control of fermentation and alcohol content. We build the testing, monitoring, and records that keep these products safe, legal, and consistent.
We are a clean-label or organic brand. Does that change our program?
It can raise the bar. Removing preservatives affects shelf life and pathogen risk, and organic or non-GMO claims need supplier verification and documentation. We design controls and evidence so your clean label holds up to an audit and a label challenge.
What license does a packaged food or beverage producer need?
Most Portland producers who bottle, can, bake, or ship need an ODA Food Safety license in the right category, such as food processing and warehousing or bakery, and operate under 21 CFR 117. Licenses renew annually on June 30. We identify the categories you need and prepare the application and program.
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 are scaling from farmers markets to retail. Where do we start?
Start with a gap assessment. Moving into wholesale and multi-state sales usually adds licensing, formal HACCP or preventive controls, and buyer audits. We map the new requirements and build a program that grows with you rather than slowing the launch.
Talk to a food safety expert about your Portland operation
Book a free consultation with our food safety and quality team, and get a clear path to your next Oregon license, audit, or retail launch.