Retail-ready checklist

A printable checklist that takes a UK brand from a good product to one a retail buyer can list.

Food, drink and consumer goods founders preparing for their first supermarket, online grocer or multiple retailer conversation, and brands that have a listing and want to keep it.

Ten parts: product and legal, labels, barcodes and product data, food safety, the price ladder, supply, marketing, the buyer pack, your rights, and the first 90 days after listing.

• Registered as a food business with your local council at least 28 days before trading (food and drink only)
• Product liability insurance in place
• Shelf life tested and documented
• Checked whether the product is less healthy food or drink under the nutrient profiling model
• Trade mark applied for in the UK, and in any export market you plan

• Name of the food
• Ingredients list, in descending order by weight
• Allergens emphasised in the ingredients list
• Net quantity
• Use by or best before date
• Storage conditions and instructions for use where needed
• Business name and address
• Country of origin where required
• Nutrition declaration
• Every claim on pack is true and can be proved
• Label checked by someone qualified before you print

• GS1 barcode number (GTIN) for every product and every size
• Barcodes on outer cases as well as units
• Barcode print quality checked
• Product data sheet: dimensions, weights, case sizes, pallet configuration, ingredients, allergens, nutrition, images

• HACCP-based food safety plan in place
• Third-party food safety certification the buyer accepts. Ask which scheme they require; SALSA is common for smaller producers, BRCGS at larger sites
• Traceability tested: you can trace a batch forward and back
• Recall plan written and rehearsed
• Supplier approval records for your ingredients and packaging

Fill this in per unit before any buyer meeting.

• Shelf price checked against the category
• Margin still positive after a full year's promotions
• Price increase clause understood

• Capacity for the listing volume plus a buffer
• Lead times written down for every component
• Back-up manufacturer or co-packer identified
• Working capital to fund stock before you are paid
• Logistics partner who can deliver to retailer depots on time

• A plan to get shoppers to the product in its first 12 weeks
• In-store or on-site visibility agreed where possible
• Sampling, social and PR planned around the launch date
• If the product is less healthy food or drink: a plan that works without location and volume price promotions in England, and without TV advertising before 9pm or paid online advertising

• One page on the category and how your product grows it
• Who buys it, and why, with evidence
• Rate of sale where it is already stocked
• The price ladder and the promotional plan
• Supply capacity and lead times
• Certification and insurance
• The marketing plan
• Samples, and a clear ask: which stores, which range, when

• You know whether the retailer is one of the 14 designated under the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (UK groceries turnover above £1 billion)
• You have read the Groceries Code Adjudicator's guidance on payments, retrospective changes, listing fees, marketing costs, forecasting errors, wastage and delisting
• You know how to raise an issue confidentially with the Adjudicator
• Every agreement is in writing

• Weekly rate of sale by store
• Availability on shelf checked
• Promotions run to plan and measured
• Waste and returns tracked
• A review date with the buyer, with results ready

Free to use and adapt. Commercial use allowed. Do not resell it as your own. Please credit HAM Agency (ham.agency). This checklist is general information, not legal advice.

1. GOV.UK: Register a food business
2. GOV.UK: Food labelling and packaging
3. GOV.UK: Restricting promotions of products high in fat, sugar or salt, implementation guidance
4. GOV.UK: Less healthy food or drink, advertising and promotions restrictions
5. GOV.UK: Groceries Code Adjudicator, about us
6. GS1 UK: Get a barcode