San Francisco Food Safety Consultant
HACCP, Preventive Controls, and SQF programs for the artisan makers and premium brands born in the Bay.
San Francisco taught the country to care where its food comes from. It is the home of the artisanal and premium-food movement, dense with sourdough and heritage bakeries, chocolate and confection, specialty and fermented foods, and the natural and organic brands that define the top shelf at grocery nationwide. Many of them start in a shared commissary kitchen or at a farmers market and grow fast toward serious retail, which is the moment food safety stops being informal. 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 a farmers-market idea becomes a national brand
More than almost anywhere, San Francisco turns small food ideas into premium brands. The city's obsession with provenance, quality, and craft built a maker economy of artisan bakeries, chocolatiers, specialty and fermented-food producers, and natural and organic packaged brands, supported by an unusually deep bench of shared commissary kitchens, food incubators, and co-manufacturers that let a founder start small. The catch is that quality-led branding raises the food safety bar rather than lowering it, and the jump from a shared kitchen to national retail brings licensing, certification, and buyer audits fast. That climb is exactly where we do our best work.
An artisan tradition that still sets the national standard
San Francisco's signature foods are craft-driven and, in many cases, live or ferment, which makes their controls specific. We tailor the food safety program to the craft rather than flattening it.
Sourdough and heritage bakery
Wild-fermentation baking, from the city's famous sourdough onward, with shelf-life, water activity, mold, and allergen controls at wholesale volume.
Chocolate and confection
Bean-to-bar chocolate and confectionery managing allergen control, foreign material, and Salmonella-in-low-moisture risk.
Specialty and fermented foods
Cultured, pickled, and preserved specialty foods needing acidification, filed processes, and pathogen control.
The climb from small batch to serious brand
Bay Area food brands tend to grow through the same stages, and each one changes what regulators and buyers expect. Knowing what is coming keeps growth from stalling on a compliance gap.
Farmers market and cottage
Early sales under California's Cottage Food or Homemade Food operations, with limits on products and revenue.
Shared commissary kitchen
Producing in a licensed shared or incubator kitchen, where your program has to coexist with many other tenants.
Your own registered facility or co-man
Moving into a dedicated space or a co-manufacturer, which triggers state processed food registration and a real HACCP or preventive controls plan.
National premium retail
Landing grocery, club, and national accounts, where a GFSI certification such as SQF and full traceability become the price of entry.
Whether you own the kitchen or share it, we fit the program
San Francisco producers usually sit in one of two setups, and each calls for a different build. We tailor the work rather than reaching for one template.
SHARED AND INCUBATOR KITCHENS
Growing inside a commissary or accelerator
Producing alongside other brands in a shared space brings its own hazards, from cross-contact to schedule-driven sanitation, and buyers still expect your own documented program.
- Tenant-level HACCP and allergen control in shared space
- Sanitation and changeover coordination between users
- Supplier approval and traceability for your own SKUs
- A program that travels when you move to your own site
DEDICATED FACILITIES AND CO-MANS
Running your own line or a contract partner
A dedicated plant or a co-manufacturer relationship brings full facility responsibility, state registration, and the buyer audits that come with scale.
- Full hazard analysis and preventive controls
- Environmental monitoring for RTE and higher-risk foods
- Co-manufacturer oversight and specification control
- SQF and GFSI readiness for national buyers
What California requires at each step of your growth
California regulates food through the Department of Public Health and local health departments, and which rules apply depends largely on your size and products. The essentials for a growing San Francisco brand:
STARTING OUT - Cottage and homemade
California's Cottage Food and Homemade Food operations let you begin from a home kitchen with approved lower-risk products, under registration or permitting through the county, within set revenue limits.
PRODUCING WHOLESALE - CDPH processed food registration
Once you manufacture, pack, or hold packaged food for wholesale, you generally need a Processed Food Registration from the CDPH Food and Drug Branch, and you operate under the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law and 21 CFR 117.
SPECIAL PROCESSES - Cannery and acidified
Low-acid canned and acidified foods, common in preserves and specialty products, require a cannery license and filed processes with a recognized process authority.
RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICE - Local health department
On-site retail, cafes, and commissary food service are permitted and inspected by the San Francisco Department of Public Health rather than the state.
Interstate sales add FDA Preventive Controls under 21 CFR 117 and, for covered foods such as certain cheeses and fresh-cut produce, FSMA 204 traceability. Seafood carries HACCP under 21 CFR 123. We map exactly which of these apply at your current stage and the next one, so your program is built to grow with you instead of being rebuilt each time you scale.
Support for San Francisco's food and beverage craft
Artisan bakeries
Sourdough, pastry, and specialty bakers scaling from wholesale accounts into retail.
Chocolate and confection
Bean-to-bar and confectionery makers handling allergens and low-moisture pathogen risk.
Specialty and fermented foods
Cultured, pickled, and preserved food producers under acidification and process rules.
Premium and organic CPG
Natural, organic, and better-for-you brands building programs for premium retail.
Beverage and co-packers
SoMa beverage makers and co-packers managing process controls and shelf life.
RTE kitchens and seafood
Mission-district prepared-food kitchens and Fisherman's Wharf seafood under HACCP.
Certifications that get you onto Bay Area and national shelves
We prepare San Francisco producers for the certifications and regulatory frameworks that premium grocery, club, and specialty buyers expect, then keep the program running between audits.
HACCP
SQF
BRCGS
FSSC 22000
FSMA Preventive Controls
GMP and cGMP
USDA
GFSI-aligned
Records that scale as fast as your brand
Our consultants get you compliant, and the platform keeps you there. Built with expert guidance and tuned to different industries, it gives a small founding team the batch, monitoring, and supplier records buyers expect, without hiring a full quality department on day one.
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.
A measured path from kitchen to certification
Assess
We meet you at your current stage, map what applies now and next, and measure you against your target standard, ending in a prioritized plan.
Build
We create or refine hazard analysis, preventive controls, SOPs, supplier approval, and traceability that fit a lean team.
Verify
We design environmental monitoring and sanitation, including shared-kitchen coordination, so the program holds up in practice.
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 San Francisco 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 growing food brands say about us
"FoodReady prevents over-purchasing and over (or under) production. It makes forecasting easy."
"The hierarchy of our food safety/quality control team was changing, and we wanted a system that would grow with us. Being a newer company as well, FoodReady was the perfect companion. As a company grows, needs ebb and flow and changes, FoodReady has been more than accommodating to that. The software effortlessly keeps track of all of our changes to stay in compliance with the regulations set forth by the BRC standard for Documentation."
"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."
Answers for Bay Area food and beverage founders
We produce in a shared commissary kitchen. Do we need our own program?
Yes. Even in a shared or incubator kitchen, buyers and regulators expect your brand to have its own HACCP or preventive controls, allergen control, supplier approval, and traceability. We build a program that works within the shared space and travels with you when you move to your own facility.
We started under cottage food. What changes as we grow?
Cottage and homemade food operations have product and revenue limits. As you exceed them or add higher-risk products, you move into state registration, a formal food safety plan, and eventually buyer audits. We map that path so each step is planned rather than a scramble.
We are a premium or organic brand. Does that change our program?
It raises the bar. Clean labels remove preservatives that add safety margin, and organic and provenance claims need supplier verification and documentation. We design controls and evidence so your premium positioning holds up to an audit and a label challenge.
When do we need a California Processed Food Registration?
Generally once you manufacture, pack, or hold packaged food for wholesale beyond cottage-food limits. The registration comes from the CDPH Food and Drug Branch, and you operate under the Sherman Law and 21 CFR 117. We handle the registration and build the program behind it.
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.
Do you work with co-manufacturers?
Yes. Many Bay Area brands use a co-manufacturer to scale. We help you set up co-man oversight, specifications, and supplier verification so you keep control of food safety even when someone else runs the line.
Talk to a food safety expert about your San Francisco operation
Book a free consultation with our food safety and quality team, and get a clear path to your next California registration, audit, or retail launch.