Safer Food, Better Business: A Modern Guide for Small UK Food Producers

Safer food leads to better business – it's not just a catchy phrase, but a practical reality for anyone running a small food or drink manufacturing business in the UK.

As a small producer, you might be crafting artisan breads in a local bakery, stirring batches of homemade sauce, or jarring up seasonal jams. In all cases, keeping food safe is critical for your customers’ health and your business’s reputation. Fortunately, there’s a friendly toolkit designed to make food safety simple for businesses like yours: Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB). In this guide, we’ll walk through what the SFBB toolkit is, why it was developed, who it’s for, and how to use it day-to-day. We’ll also explore how SFBB lays the groundwork for higher food safety standards (like SALSA or BRCGS) and introduce FoodSafe – a modern digital solution that complements SFBB to make managing food safety even easier. Let’s dive in!

What is Safer Food Better Business (SFBB)?

Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) is a food safety management toolkit created by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) to help small businesses meet hygiene regulations without the headache of heavy paperwork. Essentially, it’s a ready-made pack (often a printed binder or PDF) that guides you through writing down how you keep food safe in your business​.

The SFBB pack was developed in the mid-2000s in partnership with industry experts, as a user-friendly alternative to complicated food safety manuals. It breaks down the essentials of food hygiene into easy steps, so even if you’re not a compliance expert, you can confidently manage food safety.

At its core, SFBB helps you build a simple food safety system based on HACCP principles (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) – which is a fancy way of saying it helps you identify what could go wrong with food safety and how you prevent it. By following SFBB, small businesses like cafes, takeaways, home caterers, food retailers, childminders, and producers can comply with UK food hygiene law while focusing on what they do best: making great food​.

Why Was the SFBB Toolkit Developed?

SFBB was developed because the law requires all food businesses to have a documented food safety management system based on HACCP – even the smallest sandwich shop or preserve maker​. When this requirement came into effect (around 2006), many small businesses found the traditional HACCP documentation difficult to understand and implement. The Food Standards Agency recognised this challenge and worked with small businesses to create SFBB as a practical, jargon-free toolkit tailored to their needs.

The aim was to simplify food safety without sacrificing effectiveness. SFBB strips away the unnecessary complexity and focuses on everyday practices that keep food safe. For example, rather than writing a thesis on microbiology, a café owner using SFBB can follow plain-language “safe method” sheets that explain how to properly clean surfaces or cook foods thoroughly. By using SFBB, even a one-person business can meet legal requirements and prove their due diligence in handling food safely​. In short, SFBB was developed to help you comply with the law, easily train your staff, and protect your customers, all in one go.

Who Is SFBB For?

One of the great things about SFBB is that it’s designed with various types of small food businesses in mind. The Food Standards Agency has created different versions of the SFBB pack tailored to specific sectors:

• Caterers: If you run a small catering business – like a restaurant, café, takeaway, or even a food truck – the SFBB catering pack is for you. It covers everything you need to serve safe meals in settings where you cook and serve food immediately.

• Retailers: There’s an SFBB pack for small food retail businesses, such as convenience stores, delis, or farm shops that sell food (including things like milk or cooked meats that need refrigeration)​. This version addresses handling pre-packaged foods and products on shelves as well as any in-store handling (like slicing deli meats or preparing sandwiches to go).

• Manufacturers/Producers: SFBB isn’t just for front-of-house food service – small food and drink producers (like those making baked goods, sauces, or drinks) can use the principles of SFBB too. In fact, there are SFBB guidance materials for manufacturing operations, or you can adapt either the catering or retail pack to fit a production environment. The toolkit’s common-sense approach works whether you’re bottling your own hot sauce or baking granola bars in a small factory. It’s all about documenting how you keep your production process safe.

• Childminders and Care Providers: There is a special SFBB pack for childminders (home-based carers who prepare food for children)​​food.gov.uk. This helps child-carers ensure the meals and snacks they provide are safe for little ones. Additionally, small care homes or nurseries can benefit from SFBB (with some councils providing supplements for care homes​).

  
  

In essence, any small food business in the UK – from a one-person home baking operation to a family-run corner shop or a local community café – can use SFBB. The packs are free to download, so it’s an accessible resource for all. If you fit into one of these categories (and most small producers do), SFBB is for you.

Inside the SFBB Toolkit: Key Sections

So, what exactly do you get in a Safer Food, Better Business pack? SFBB is divided into straightforward sections that cover the most important aspects of food safety. Each section contains “Safe Method” worksheets that explain good practices and has space for you to jot down how your business does things. Here are the key sections included in the SFBB toolkit:

• Cross-Contamination: This section helps you prevent harmful bacteria or allergens from spreading from one surface or food to another. For example, it guides you on separating raw and cooked foods, using different chopping boards for raw meat and vegetables, and avoiding allergen cross-contact. In practice, a small bakery might use this section to ensure that nuts (allergens) for one product don’t contaminate a nut-free product, or that raw eggs used in a cake batter don’t cross-contaminate the icing area. Following the cross-contamination safe methods keeps your products safe from invisible threats.

  
  

• Cleaning: Cleanliness is non-negotiable in food production. The cleaning section provides methods for effective cleaning and sanitising of equipment, surfaces, and utensils. It covers when and how to clean, and with what cleaning products, to kill bacteria. A jam producer, for instance, will follow the cleaning safe methods to sterilise jars and utensils before each batch. SFBB reminds you to set up a cleaning schedule (e.g., wipe down prep tables after each use, deep-clean machines daily or weekly) and even includes tips for pest control as part of keeping things clean.

  
  

• Chilling: This part of SFBB focuses on keeping foods cold when needed. It outlines how to properly refrigerate or freeze foods to slow bacterial growth, the correct fridge temperature ranges, and how to cool hot food quickly and safely. If you’re a sauce maker making a batch of chilli sauce, the chilling section guides you on cooling the sauce rapidly and storing it in the fridge at the right temperature. It also reminds you to check your fridge/freezer thermometers daily. Keeping ingredients and finished products at safe temperatures is key to shelf life and safety, and SFBB provides the know-how.

  
  

• Cooking: When it comes to cooked foods, temperature is king. The cooking section teaches you how to cook or reheat foods thoroughly to kill any harmful bacteria. It often includes advice like “cook until piping hot” or specific core temperature targets (for example, 75°C for 30 seconds in many guidelines) for meats, soups, etc. A catering business might use this, for example, to ensure their chicken curry is thoroughly cooked every time, or a bakery will have guidance on cooking pies completely. For a small producer making jams or sauces, this section also matters – it’s about reaching the right temperatures in your process (like boiling jam to the setting point, which also ensures any pathogens are destroyed). SFBB’s cooking safe methods help you record what “done” looks like for your recipes and encourage using a thermometer where appropriate.

  
  

• Management: In addition to the “4 Cs” above (Cross-contamination, Cleaning, Chilling, Cooking), SFBB includes a Management section. This is all about the behind-the-scenes paperwork and routines that glue the system together. It covers things like training your staff on food hygiene and on using the SFBB pack, handling suppliers and traceability, stock control (e.g. date coding and what to do with out-of-date stock), and what to do if something goes wrong (corrective actions). It also includes management checks – for example, signing off that daily tasks were completed, or doing a monthly review of the whole system to see if updates are needed. Think of the Management section as the “business side” of food safety: it ensures that beyond the day-to-day kitchen practices, you are keeping an eye on the bigger picture. If you train an assistant in your jam business, you’d record that training here. If you update a recipe or buy a new fridge, you’d note the changes. This section ties everything together and is often what an inspector will scrutinize to judge how well you run your food safety overall​.

  
  

• Records/Diary: Last but not least, SFBB includes a diary section for records​. This typically consists of daily diary pages (often one page per day or per week) where you confirm that all is well. In the diary, you usually tick off that you’ve completed your opening checks (like “fridges OK, surfaces clean, etc.”) and closing checks, record any problems or incidents, and sign off that day’s record. Some diary pages also have space to note temperatures (e.g. fridge readings or cooking temperatures) if something was off or if required. The diary is essentially your ongoing log that proves you are consistently following your safe methods. For example, every day that your sauce company operates, you’d have someone (you or a staff member) fill in the diary: “Fridge at 4°C – OK. Freezer -18°C – OK. 12pm: batch of sauce reached 85°C – OK. Cleaned all surfaces – Yes. No problems today.” This daily diligence shows that you didn't just write a nice plan and forget it; you're living it day-to-day.

  
  

All these sections work together. You fill out the safe methods in each section to reflect how your business prevents cross-contamination, keeps things clean, chills and cooks food properly, etc. Then you use the diary to keep a daily record that you’re sticking to those methods. The result is a complete Food Safety Management System tailored to your small business – without having to start from scratch.

Using SFBB Day-to-Day

Having an SFBB pack on your shelf is great, but it truly shines when you use it actively as part of your daily routine. Here’s how to make SFBB a living, breathing part of your small business operations:

1. Fill Out Your Safe Methods (One-Time Setup): When you first get the SFBB toolkit, set aside some time to go through all the safe method sheets in the pack. For each sub-topic (for example, under “Cleaning” there might be sheets for cleaning schedules, dishwashing, etc.), read the guidance and write down what you do in your business. If something doesn’t apply, note that or skip it. This process essentially documents “how we do things safely here.” You usually only need to do this full write-up once, when you start using the pack or when you make big changes, not every day​. For instance, a small bakery owner might write in the Cross-Contamination safe method sheet: “We have separate color-coded knives for raw meat (red) and baked goods (blue). We only prepare raw meat after all bread is baked to avoid cross-contamination,” etc. Once completed, these become your standard operating procedures for food safety.

2. Train Your Team: If you have employees or helpers, walk them through the relevant parts of the SFBB pack. Because SFBB is written in plain language, it doubles as a training tool. You can literally sit down with your team, read the “Safe Methods” you've completed, and make sure everyone understands how to carry them out. The pack even includes a training record section for you to log when you’ve trained each person​. Even if you’re a solo operator, it’s good to familiarize yourself with everything so that the SFBB isn’t just papers in a folder, but knowledge in your head and hands.

3. Do Your Daily Checks and Diary Entries: Each day (or each shift), SFBB expects you to do certain routine checks to confirm food is being kept safe. Common checks include things like: Are the fridges and freezers at the correct temperatures? Did we cook today’s batch to the right temperature? Are all surfaces and tools clean and sanitized? These are often referred to as opening and closing checks. With SFBB, performing these checks becomes second nature – they only take a minute or two. After doing the checks, you fill in the daily diary page. As mentioned, the diary isn’t arduous: usually just ticking boxes and noting any unusual events. For example, if something went wrong – say your freezer was found at too high a temperature one morning – you’d note it in the diary and write what you did about it (e.g., moved products to another freezer, and called for repair). On days where everything goes smoothly, a quick “All checks OK, no issues” and a signature is enough. The SFBB diary is the only daily record you need in most cases​, and it provides that running log of due diligence.

4. Keep the Pack Accessible: SFBB isn’t meant to live in a dusty drawer. Keep your pack somewhere handy in your work area. Many businesses leave it in the kitchen office or near the main prep area (but of course, somewhere it won’t itself get contaminated!). That way you or your staff can reference it anytime. Also, inspectors will want to see it – so having it readily available means you’re never scrambling. Make sure the diary pages are up-to-date and the pack is complete before each day’s operations​ (especially if you know an inspection could happen soon).

5. Review and Update as Needed: Business practices can change – you might introduce a new product line, get new equipment, or adjust a recipe. SFBB encourages you to review your safe methods regularly (e.g. whenever something significant changes, or at least once a year)​. During a review, check if everything you wrote still applies. Maybe you need a new safe method for a new process, or maybe some procedure became obsolete. Update the pack and note the review date. This keeps your food safety system current. It’s also a good time to refresh training with staff. An example might be a sauce producer who starts making a new kind of sauce that includes allergens like peanuts – they’d need to add an allergen management step in their cross-contamination section and train staff on it.

By integrating SFBB into your routine, food safety becomes just another easy part of your day, rather than a last-minute worry. Most importantly, these habits help ensure that every loaf of bread, jar of jam, or batch of sauce you produce is safe for your customers to enjoy.

See example SFBB Pack by the Community Grocery communitygrocery.org.uk​ 

Keeping Records and Meeting Legal Requirements

You might wonder, beyond the daily diary, what records are expected from you when using SFBB. The good news is SFBB keeps it pretty simple:

• Daily Diary Pages: As covered, these are the primary records. They demonstrate day-to-day adherence to your safety practices. Make it a habit to fill them in each day you operate. If you’re closed, some diaries just have you mark it as “closed” or you skip those days.

  
  

• Records of Critical Checks: Some businesses like to log certain critical measurements – for instance, the exact temperature a meat dish reached, or fridge temperatures at specific times. SFBB itself may not require separate forms for these (since issues would be noted in the diary), but it’s good practice to maintain a simple fridge/freezer temperature log and cooking temperature log especially if you frequently cook high-risk foods. These can be kept in the diary or as additional sheets. In fact, keeping things like fridge temperature records and cooked food temperature notes can help you prove you are doing things correctly​. Many SFBB diaries include a checkbox like “Fridge OK” which implies you did check it.

  
  

• Cleaning Schedule and Logs: The SFBB pack might include a cleaning schedule template (for example, a weekly chart listing what needs cleaning daily, weekly, monthly). Filling this out and ticking it off as you complete cleaning tasks isn’t mandatory by law, but it’s highly recommended. It keeps you organised and shows inspectors that cleaning is managed consistently.

  
  

• Training Records: As part of the Management section, SFBB provides a place to note down when staff are trained on the safe methods. Keep this up to date whenever you train or refresh training for an employee. Also note any formal training certificates your staff have (SFBB training is not a substitute for formal food hygiene training, but it complements it​).

  
  

• Supplier Lists and Traceability: Some versions of SFBB encourage you to keep a list of your suppliers (where you get your ingredients) and maybe stickers or receipts for traceability. This is useful if there’s ever a product recall or if you need to trace a batch of ingredients. It’s part of good management practice that also ties into other standards like SALSA/BRCGS down the line.

  
  

By maintaining these records, you’re not just complying with the law – you’re protecting your business. Under UK food law, you have a “due diligence defence” available if something ever goes wrong, meaning if you can show you took all reasonable precautions (i.e., you followed your SFBB system and kept records of it), you are in a stronger position legally​. Think of your SFBB pack and records as your safety net: they help you catch issues early and also document your proactive efforts to keep food safe.

And remember, the law does require a system like this. If you don’t have any food safety management system or records, you risk not only food safety problems but also a poor Food Hygiene Rating or even legal trouble.

In fact, failing to implement a documented food safety system can significantly impact your food hygiene rating (those 0–5 scores you see on restaurant doors)​. With SFBB, achieving a top score (5) is much more attainable because you can show exactly how you manage food safety – something inspectors love to see.

EHOs and Your SFBB Records

Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are the local officials who inspect your food business (often from your council). When an EHO visits your premises for a routine inspection or following a complaint, your SFBB pack will be one of the first things they ask for. Here’s what to expect and how SFBB helps in an inspection:

• Demonstrating Your System: The EHO will want to verify that you have a food safety management system in place – SFBB neatly ticks that box. You can present your SFBB folder, showing all the completed safe method sheets and the management section. This immediately signals that you take food safety seriously and have a structured approach in place. Many EHOs are very familiar with SFBB (they often recommend it to small businesses themselves), so seeing a well-kept SFBB pack is a positive sign to them.

  
  

• Checking the Diary and Records: Inspectors will go through your diary pages and records. They’re looking to see that you’ve been filling them out consistently and honestly. If your diary shows daily entries of checks, and notes any incidents with corrective actions, it gives evidence that you’re actively managing food safety, not just relying on luck. An EHO might flip back through weeks or months of your diary. They might specifically look for entries where something went wrong and ask what you did – this is an opportunity to shine by showing how responsibly you handled it (for example, “Yes, on March 5th the fridge was 10°C, we immediately moved the food to our backup fridge and called the engineer, and none of the potentially unsafe food was sold.”). Make sure you keep completed diary pages – usually, you should store them until the next inspection​ (or as your EHO advises) so that they have a history to review.

  
  

• Observing Your Practices vs. SFBB: An EHO will also observe your operations during the visit – how you and your staff actually handle food, clean, etc. They may cross-reference this with your SFBB methods. For example, if your SFBB safe method says “We always use probe thermometers to check cooked meat temperatures,” the officer might ask you to show the probe and maybe demonstrate how you use it or show recent records. Consistency is key: if your SFBB says one thing but you’re doing another, that’s a red flag. So always update the pack if you change a practice, as mentioned. The goal is that what’s written in SFBB is truly what you do every day.

  
  

• Scoring and Feedback: Using SFBB properly can directly affect your Food Hygiene Rating (the Scores on the Doors). One component of the rating is “Management of Food Safety.” If you have SFBB in place and all in order, you’ll likely score well in that area, which is essential for getting a 5 (Very Good). On the flip side, if you either don’t have any system or have SFBB but it’s incomplete or not used, it will count against you. EHOs know SFBB covers the required points of law, so if they see it’s being followed, they know you’re covering your bases. In short, keeping your SFBB pack up-to-date and accessible makes inspections faster and smoother – often it can turn a potentially stressful inspection into a straightforward review. Some inspectors even comment that a good SFBB pack makes their job easier since everything they need to assess is well documented.

  
  

Remember, EHOs are not out to get you; they’re there to ensure public health. They appreciate when businesses are proactive. SFBB is evidence of proactivity. It shows you’re not waiting for problems to happen – you’re preventing them. When the EHO is satisfied with your SFBB and how you implement it, you’re likely to enjoy a quick inspection and get valuable feedback (maybe just minor advice if anything). And when you proudly display that 5-star hygiene rating, you can thank your good practices with SFBB for it!

From SFBB to SALSA and BRCGS: Building on the Basics

If your ambitions as a small food producer grow – say you want to supply larger retailers, or you just want to operate to the highest standards – you might be looking at certifications like SALSA or BRCGS in the future. Here’s how SFBB helps lay the foundation for these advanced standards:

• SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval): SALSA is a food safety certification scheme tailored for small and micro businesses who want to demonstrate that they operate to a standard accepted by bigger buyers (like farm shops, local supermarkets, or even big supermarket chains looking to list artisanal products). SALSA audits cover similar ground to SFBB – HACCP-based procedures, records, training, traceability, etc., but in more detail. If you’ve been faithfully using SFBB, you already have a mini-HACCP system in place. You’re used to documenting hazards and controls (via SFBB safe methods) and keeping records. This is a great starting point for SALSA, which will require you to perhaps formalize things a bit more (e.g. have more detailed written HACCP plans, internal audits, etc.). Many small producers begin with SFBB and, as their business scales up, transition to SALSA standards. The good habits and food safety culture instilled by SFBB will make that step up much easier.

  
  

• BRCGS (Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standards, formerly BRC): BRCGS is an even more stringent global food safety standard often pursued by larger manufacturers supplying major retailers worldwide. While a tiny bakery or sauce maker may not need BRCGS initially, some growing businesses aim for it. BRCGS requires a full HACCP plan and a very robust food safety management system (complete with documentation, monitoring, verification, etc.). Think of it as HACCP on steroids. But guess what? If you’ve been doing SFBB diligently, you have been working with the principles of HACCP all along. You know how to identify hazards, control them, and keep records. You also have started a culture of continuous improvement and review (thanks to the SFBB management section). Sure, going for BRCGS will mean expanding your system, adding more detail (like supplier approval programs, detailed traceability tests, etc.), but SFBB gives you the groundwork. It’s much easier to grow a small, solid system into a larger one than to start from zero.

  
  

In summary, SFBB is not a dead-end or just a basic checklist – it’s a launchpad. It ensures you meet legal requirements for hygiene from day one, and it fosters a mindset of safety and organization. As your business thrives and perhaps targets higher certifications, you’ll find that SFBB has taught you many of the concepts you need. So, by embracing SFBB now, you’re not only keeping your current customers safe and happy, you’re also setting yourself up for future success where your homemade jam could be on supermarket shelves, backed by SALSA or even BRCGS credentials. Big journeys start with small steps, and SFBB is one of those crucial first steps in the journey of food safety for your business.

Going Digital with FoodSafe: Making Food Safety Easier

While SFBB is a fantastic tool, one challenge some businesses find is managing all that paper – especially over months and years. Binders can get bulky, diary pages can pile up, and remembering to do every check and fill every log can sometimes slip through the cracks on a busy day.

This is where modern technology can help. FoodSafe is an example of a digital food safety management solution designed to support SFBB users and other small food businesses. Think of it as taking the SFBB concept and moving it to your smartphone or computer for even more convenience.

FoodSafe doesn’t replace SFBB’s guidance (you still follow the principles and safe methods), but it complements it by digitising the record-keeping and adding smart features. Here are some ways FoodSafe can support you as a small producer:

• Customisable Digital Record Sheets: Instead of (or in addition to) writing in the SFBB diary by hand, FoodSafe provides digital record sheets for all your routine food safety checks. You can set up checklists for cleaning tasks, forms to log cooking temperatures, cooling times, fridge/freezer temperatures, etc. These records are customisable – so a sauce maker might have a “Boiling temperature check” form for each batch, while a bakery might set a “Cooling check” for pastries. The digital format ensures you never run out of pages, and you can tailor the fields to what matters for your operations.

  
  

• Automatic Reminders and Notifications: It’s easy to forget a task when you’re juggling mixing bowls or dealing with customers. You can structure FoodSafe to send you and your team notifications to keep everyone on track. For example, a ping on Monday to remind you to check and record fridge temperatures, or an end-of-day reminder to verify that the cleaning schedule is done. These reminders act like a friendly nudge, so important checks aren't missed. Consistency is key in food safety, and a little notification to your dashboard and email can ensure things get done even on hectic days.

  
  

• Centralised Records for Quick Audits: With paper diaries, preparing for an audit or inspection means flipping through pages or gathering binders. FoodSafe stores all your records in one centralised online dashboard. This means when an EHO comes in, you could, for instance, pull up your records on a tablet or print summary reports in seconds. All your cleaning logs, temperature logs, and any incidents are searchable and neatly organised by date. It makes demonstrating compliance a breeze – no more rifling through filing cabinets while the inspector waits. Also, if you have multiple teams, everyone’s inputs go into the same system, giving managers an overview of all records at once.

  
  

• Mobile Accessibility – Record on the Move: FoodSafe is built to be mobile-friendly. For you, that means you can carry your “SFBB diary” in your pocket. Stirring a pot and need to log a temperature? Just pull out your phone and tap it in. Finished cleaning a mixer? Check it off on your tablet. Mobile accessibility ensures that whether you’re in the kitchen, the stock room, or even at a farmer’s market stall, you can update your food safety records in real time. No need to remember later or run back to the office to jot it down. This real-time recording can also capture details like photos (e.g., take a photo of a cleaning issue or a product label for traceability) if needed.

  
  

In essence, FoodSafe brings the benefits of food safety management software to UK small producers, without losing the friendly SFBB approach. It’s food safety for small producers, made smarter and simpler. By using a tool like FoodSafe alongside SFBB, you get the best of both worlds: the trusted guidance of SFBB and the efficiency of digital technology. It’s especially useful when working towards those higher standards like SALSA/BRCGS, where record-keeping needs to be impeccable – FoodSafe can scale with you, keeping everything organised.

SFBB in Action: Real Examples from Small Producers

Let’s paint a picture of how SFBB (and a bit of help from FoodSafe) actually plays out in real-life small businesses. Here are a few relatable scenarios:

• Jenny’s Artisan Bakery: Jenny runs a cozy bakery in a small town. Every morning at 4 AM, she and her assistant start baking breads and pastries. Using SFBB, Jenny has documented all her methods: how to avoid cross-contamination when handling raw eggs for brioche, her cleaning routine for mixers and counters, and how she cools baked goods safely. Each day, once the morning rush is over, Jenny takes a moment to fill in the SFBB diary – she ticks off that the fridge (holding her cream and butter) was at 3°C, notes that she baked the chicken pies to 80°C internally, and that all surfaces were sanitized after prep. One day, the thermostat on her fridge fails; the SFBB diary prompts her to check, so she catches it early, moves the stock to a backup fridge and calls a technician, documenting all this in the diary. When an EHO visits, they’re impressed by her well-kept SFBB pack and the immaculate kitchen. With FoodSafe, Jenny could make this even easier: she now logs those same checks on her phone, and gets a 4 PM reminder to verify the display fridge temperature before leaving. Come inspection time, she shows the inspector her digital logs which complement her SFBB pack. Result: a confident inspector and a top hygiene rating.

  
  

• Tom’s Hot Sauce Start-up: Tom started a small business making artisan hot sauces which he sells online and at local markets. He operates out of a rented commercial kitchen. SFBB for caterers/manufacturers is his go-to guide. He has safe methods for cooking (each sauce batch must boil for X minutes), chilling (sauces are bottled hot and then rapidly cooled), and avoiding cross-contamination (he handles allergens like mustard in one of his sauces). Every batch Tom makes, he writes the cooking temperature and pH of the sauce in his SFBB diary, as these are critical for sauce safety. He also keeps track of cleaning – making sure bottles are sterilized and filling equipment is cleaned. As Tom’s business grows, he can begin using FoodSafe to record each batch’s production data: he can enter the batch number, cooking temp, and cooling time into a form on his tablet as he works. He can even attach photos of his thermometer readings as proof. This digital log not only satisfies the SFBB diary requirement but also creates a traceable record for each batch (useful if ever a customer query or recall situation). Tom’s diligence with SFBB means he’s essentially practicing HACCP principles; when he decides to pursue SALSA certification to get into local shops, he finds he’s already doing most of what's required – it’s just a matter of formalising it. His then digital SFBB records impress the SALSA auditor, proving he has all required information and he earns his SALSA approval, unlocking new business opportunities.

  
  

• Linda’s Jam & Preserve Business: Linda is a grandma turned entrepreneur, selling homemade jams and chutneys. She might think of her operation as “just cooking at home,” but she wisely adopted SFBB from the get-go. Her SFBB pack (the retail/manufacturing hybrid) covers how she preps her fruit (washing it thoroughly to remove contaminants), how she sterilises jars (part of cleaning), how she ensures a good boil (cooking) for safety, and how she stores finished jars (chilling – though jams are shelf-stable, her chutneys go in the fridge after opening). Linda fills out the diary each day she cooks or packs products. For instance, when making strawberry jam, she notes: “Boiled for 4 minutes at rolling boil, jars sterilized 15 min in oven, no issues.” She also notes any visitors to her kitchen (to manage cross-contamination) and keeps track of batch codes. An EHO drops by her home kitchen, initially a bit sceptical of a “home business,” but Linda proudly shows a well-organised SFBB folder. The officer flips through and sees months of consistent records and safe methods tailored to jam-making – they are pleased and give her a thumbs-up. Linda also tries FoodSafe’s free trial, finding that it’s handy to log her cooking times and even set a data notification in the app to remind her when to recalibrate her pH meters. She isn’t very techy, but appreciates that her grandson can check the logs remotely and help her out. In the end, Linda’s little jam business runs with the professionalism of a much larger outfit, thanks to SFBB’s structure and a bit of digital backup.

  
  

These examples show that SFBB is flexible and scalable. Whether you’re in a commercial space or your home kitchen, making baked goods or hot sauce, the principles remain the same. By applying SFBB, our small business owners Jenny, Tom, and Linda each created a strong food safety culture from day one. And by leveraging tools like FoodSafe, they can streamline the process, making it even more fool proof.

The payoff is seen in smooth inspections, satisfied customers, and the confidence to grow their businesses, knowing that food safety is under control.

Ready to Simplify Food Safety? Try FoodSafe for Free!

Managing food safety might feel like a daunting task, but with SFBB and digital tools like FoodSafe, it becomes just another part of your business’s recipe for success. You’ve seen how the Safer Food, Better Business toolkit provides a solid foundation for food safety for small producers, and how going digital can save you time and stress. Now it’s time to put this into action for your own operation.

FoodSafe is here to help you modernise your SFBB experience. Why not take it for a spin? We invite you to sign up for a free trial of FoodSafe and see how simple managing your food safety can be. Set up your custom record sheets, set those handy reminders, and watch as your compliance to-dos become easier than ever. With FoodSafe, you’ll spend less time shuffling papers and more time doing what you love – crafting delicious products for your customers.

Safer food leads to better business, and with the right tools, achieving safer food is totally within your reach. Take the next step today: give FoodSafe a try, and empower your small food business with a modern, hassle-free food safety management solution. Your future self (and your EHO) will thank you!

Stay safe, keep cooking, and here’s to your continued success in making safer food for a better business!​​

Start your FREE trial now!