The Moment Every New Food Business Hits the Wall

Many food businesses called me in a panic. Their first retailer had asked for a food safety program — something “simple” like HACCP, SOPs, traceability… except none of it feels simple when you’re new. The owner admitted, “Felicia, I don’t even know what a food safety program looks like.” If you’re here Googling the same thing, you’re in good company. Every new QA technician, baker, butcher, seafood processor, beverage maker, or ready-to-eat entrepreneur starts in this exact place: overwhelmed, unsure, and trying to figure out what to do first. So let’s break this down in a way that feels human, practical, and manageable.

Where Most People Go Wrong When Starting a Food Safety Program?

Most people begin in the wrong direction. They jump straight into HACCP worksheets or download generic templates or try to copy another business’s program. The biggest mistake is trying to build everything at once. A strong food safety program grows from foundational steps, not from paperwork glued together. When you understand the sequence, everything becomes much easier.

The Three Essential Steps to Start Your Food Safety Program

Step 1: Understand Your Regulatory Requirements

Before you write anything, you must understand which rules apply to your business. Are you under CFIA? Provincial health? Local environmental health? Do you export? Do you use high-risk ingredients like meat, dairy, or allergens? Do your customers expect SQF certification, or is a basic food safety plan enough? Getting clear on your requirements prevents weeks of wasted effort and ensures you’re building the right program from the start.

Ask yourself:

• What products do we make?
• Who do we sell to? Do we import or export?
• What food safety claims do we make?
• Do we handle high-risk or ready-to-eat ingredients?

Once you answer these questions, your food safety program will have a clear direction.

Step 2: Build Your Prerequisite Programs for Your Food Facility

Once you understand your regulatory requirements, the next step is building your prerequisite programs, where it is the foundation of every compliance system. These include sanitation, allergen control, pest control, training, personal hygiene, supplier approval, traceability, recall, maintenance, calibration, and more. They are not exciting, but they are the sections that most new businesses skip, and the sections that lead to failed audits.

Start small. Choose three core SOPs to create first: sanitation, personal hygiene, and receiving.

These three areas stabilize operations quickly and create early wins for the team. Keep the language simple and focus on practicality. Even something basic like “How to wash hands properly” is an SOP many facilities fail to implement consistently.

Step 3: Develop Your HACCP or Food Safety Plan

Only after your prerequisite programs are grounded and functional should you move into HACCP. This stage overwhelms many new QA coordinators, especially when identifying hazards, CCPs, critical limits, and validation. For smaller manufacturers like bakeries or beverage producers, a simplified food safety plan may be enough. For meat, seafood, and ready-to-eat manufacturers, a full HACCP plan is usually required.

When starting your HACCP plan, walk through your facility with a clipboard and document the process exactly as it happens. Don’t describe the ideal process; capture the actual process. Identify where hazards could be introduced, controlled, or eliminated. Keep your writing practical, concise, and true to your operation. And remember, you don’t need perfection; you need consistency, traceability, and compliance.

A Real Story to Make This Practical

A frozen food facility owner hired us after failing two scheduled audits because they were trying. Trying to do things on their own.

They failed not because they have actual food safety recall potential but more so, they don’t understand the process and not because the bakery was unsafe, but because their documents didn’t reflect real operations. They lacked sanitation SOPs. Their allergen control program was incomplete. Traceability only worked one way. And their HACCP plan had been copied from another business.

Together, we rebuilt everything from the ground up. We clarified requirements, developed meaningful prerequisite programs, and wrote a HACCP plan that matched their actual process. They passed their next audit with zero major non-conformances. When your foundations finally match real operations, everything changes.

Where Most New Food Businesses Finally Say “I Get It”…

You don’t need a perfect food safety program. You need a functional one; something your employees can follow, something consistent with your operations, something that grows with your business. You are not just creating documents; you are building confidence and laying the groundwork for audit readiness, customer trust, and long-term success.

Ready to Start Your Food Safety Program the Right Way?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure where to begin, that is completely normal. My name is Felicia Loo. I help new QA coordinators, plant managers, small processors, and food entrepreneurs across Canada build their programs with clarity and confidence. You don’t have to figure this out alone.

Book a consultation: https://tidycal.com/sfpmconsulting/strategy-call Or call directly: 1-236-513-2488

Let’s build a food safety program that works for your business and helps you pass HACCP or SQF certification confidently.