Fermenting Safely For Your Business
By Johnny Drain
In my experience, utterring the word ‘mould’ is enough to give a case of fast-onset heebeejeebies to an EHO. Faces pale, palms get sticky, smiles turns to frowns.
And they’re not alone. Many of us get the ick at the word. You see, in everyday life, we associate mould with neglect: bread gone bad, a shower cubicle in need of a deep clean, or a compost heap left to do it’s thing.
But some of the world’s favourite flavours are made by mould.
Miso sauce? Made by mould.
Soy sauce? Made by mould.
Some of the world’s best cheese? Carefully crafted by mould.
Add in yeasts and bacteria and you get the mighty triumverate that drive fermentation. From chocolate to coffee, booze to bread, kvass to kimchi, ferments — which number some of most beloved foodstuffs — are all powered by microbes.
For many of us working with fermentation — chefs, bakers, wine-makers, cheesemongers — while we may be well aware of the wonders of microbes, it can take some explaining to convince EHOs, and partners and housemates, that the presence, let alone intentional cultivation of moulds, yeast, and bacteria, is desirable.
As such, launching a business that’s built around fermented products — from kombucha to koji to kimchi — means grappling with the burden of zymatological proof.
You need to — and for good reason, safety first folks! — be able to show you are working in a safe, responsible way that doesn’t endanger anyone.
So whether you’re preparing to stock the shelves of your deli with house-fermented chilli sauce or dreaming of turning your sourdough starter into a brand, here are 7 things to think about before you leap in.
1. Your Environmental Health Officer Is Your New Penpal
Fermentation doesn’t slot easily into the food safety frameworks EHOs are (currently) trained to enforce. You may be using centuries-old techniques, but unless you can translate those into HACCP plans, defining the critical control points that ensure your process and team can be held accountable, then you’re in for some tricky conversations.
The key?
Engage early.
EHOs aren’t trying to shut you down (typically! Although I’ve heard some horror stories).
They’re trying to ensure the food you sell won’t make people sick. But with fermentation, especially if you’re working with wild cultures or organisms like moulds that might be less well understood in the UK and even mistrusted, then you’ll likely need to do some, ahem, gentle educating.
One fermenter I know invited their EHO in for a workshop — they explained the process of lacto-fermentation using side-by-side pH comparisons and fermentation logs. The EHO left with a jar of fermenting carrots and a better understanding of how to assess risk in products that fizz and froth of their own accord.
Some councils are more understanding than others. I’ve heard of EHOs insisting that natto be served chilled (even though it’s shelf-stable in Japan), and others requesting lab testing on every batch of vinegar.
Inconsistent? Yes.
But if you build a paper trail, establish clear SOPs, and show you’re controlling key risks, most officers will work with you — not against you.
2. Your HACCP Plan Is More Than a Box-Tick Exercise
Which brings us to your HACCP plan.
And you can’t fudge this part: HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is a legal requirement in the UK, and needs to be done for each product you produce or workflow you use.
To create a HACCP plan you need to:
- Identify Hazards: Outline potential microbiological, chemical, and physical risks. For a ferment this would be usual things like — is there risk of any fragments of metal ending up in my product, along with pathogenic bacteria, mould contamination).
- Identify Control Points: Ensure your plan specifies critical points such as temperature control, acidity (pH) monitoring, and safe storage conditions.
- Create Documentation: Keep meticulous records demonstrating how you maintain food safety standards and comply with local regulations. EHOs will look for clear evidence of your monitoring procedures.
- Have Regular Inspections: Proactively schedule inspections with your EHO, demonstrating transparency and dedication to food safety.
- Implement Training and Certification: Ensure at least one team member holds Level 3 Food Safety certification, particularly focusing on fermentation processes.
Think of it as your fermentation diary.
And remember, it’s not just there for regulators. It’s also a roadmap for scaling, troubleshooting, and training staff.
3. Shelf Life Is a Science (and a Sales Tool)
Fermented foods can often last for months or even years — but telling a wholesaler “it’s probably fine” won’t cut it.
Shelf-life testing is one of the murkiest parts of launching a fermentation business. Here’s the short version:
- You can legally set a best-before date yourself, if you’re confident in your process and quality.
- But if you want to sell to retailers, especially chains, you’ll likely need lab-validated shelf life, including:
- Microbial safety (testing for the presence of pathogens like Listeria or Salmonella
- pH and water activity (aW)
- Visual and organoleptic changes over time
For drinks like kombucha or water kefir, there’s the added challenge of alcohol formation. If your brew creeps over 1.2% ABV, it’s no longer a soft drink legally — you’d need a license, duty stamps, and the rest.
Kombucha producers have been caught out by this: one batch of kombucha over-fermented after bottling, perhaps thanks to a warm delivery van or some overzealous SCOBYs. Cue exploding bottles, lost stock, and a very sheepish email to a major buyer.
The lesson? Know your product. Know your legal limits. And if ever in doubt, get testing done.
4. Wild Ferments Are Magical — But Are They Scalable?
There’s romance in wild ferments. They speak of terroir, of unpredictability, of a punkish approach to flavour creation.
But if you’re scaling up — or trying to create something consistent enough for retail — that unpredictability becomes a risk.
Most commercial fermenters end up shifting to controlled fermentation:
- Using defined starter cultures
- Controlling and standardising things like vessel sizes and temperature curves.
- Eliminating environmental variability as far as possible.
It’s not about stealing the soul from your ferments. It’s just about being able to replicate what made people fall in love with it in the first place.
5. Think Like an Engineer, Not Just a Cook
When you scale fermentation, logistics becomes the hidden cost. Where do you store a thousand litres of kraut? How do you soak and strain 500 kg of rice? How long does it take 200L of tea to cool? What happens if the fridge breaks?
Beyond simply your recipes and the final product, you need to think about process, workflow and equipment:
- Do your vessels need to be food-grade plastic, ceramic, or stainless steel?
- How will you clean them between batches (and prove it)?
- Do you need separate spaces for production and packaging?
- What are your bottlenecks (literally and figuratively)? (I’ve fermented things in vessels in which they got stuck because of the changes in texture the fermentation produced!)
- Will any steps — particularly heating and cooling — change significantly as I produce (much) more of my products?
6. Consider Insurance, Legal Risk, and Personal Liability
As any food business owner will tell you, your culinary adventure is also a legal and financial one.
Food borne pathogens are real, and products that are improperly fermented can cause serious illness. The bottom line is that if someone becomes ill after eating your product, you could be liable.
At minimum, you’ll need:
- Product and public liability insurance (£1–5 million cover is common — that’s what your covered for, not what you have to pay!)
- Food hygiene training (as a business owner I’d say getting Level 3 is good practice and sets a good precedent)
- Registration with your local authority
- Risk assessments for every food production space (especially if you’re renting a commercial kitchen)
If in doubt, there are solicitors who specialise in food businesses. Paying one of them a few hundred pounds upfront but could save you tens of thousands later.
7. Managing Customer Perceptions and Education
- Transparency: Clearly explain what fermentation is, why it’s safe, and its health benefits through signage, menus, or social media.
- Sensory Experiences: Offer tasting sessions or workshops to engage customers directly, helping them appreciate the nuanced flavours and health benefits fermentation provides.
- Health Claims: Be cautious and evidence-based when highlighting probiotic benefits. UK regulations strictly monitor health claims, and misleading information can attract regulatory scrutiny.
- Engaging Content: Use storytelling in your marketing efforts, highlighting cultural origins, unique production methods, or interesting fermentation facts.
Final Ferment
Fermentation is messy, alive, and ancient — and launching a fermentation-focused business means navigating a space where tradition and regulation don’t always meet cleanly. You’ll be part cook, part microbiologist, part compliance officer, part storyteller.
But if you do it right, you’ll be selling something far more than just food. You’ll be offering something alchemical — a flavour, a feeling, a ferment that’s alive with possibility.
And that? That’s worth bottling.
Whether you’re a chef bottling your signature lacto-fermented chilli sauce or a small team building a UK-wide kombucha brand, fermentation rewards patience, rigour, and a respect for invisible collaborators. Build your business as carefully as you build your starter cultures—and your microbes (and customers) will thank you.
Dr Johnny Drain works at the cutting edge of food, fermentation and sustainability, exploring how we can feed the world in a more healthy, equitable and ecologically-friendly way. Part-cook, part-designer and part-scientist (having earned his PhD in Materials Science from the University of Oxford), his collaborators have included Noma’s Nordic Food Lab, zero-waste pioneers Silo and the Argentinian Ministry of Agriculture. Johnny co-founded MOLD Magazine as well as food tech company Win-Win, which became the world’s first company to bring a cocoa-free chocolate to market in 2022.
Adventures in Fermentation is the first book to lift the lid on the power of this ancient practice, exploring how it has been utilised in different cultures across the globe and how we can do the same. With irresistible wit and verve, chef and scientist Dr Johnny Drain illuminates the vast and unsung possibilities that microbes bring to the table, sharing stories and recipes that will entertain and delight readers as they embark on their own journey of discovery. You can purchase it here.