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Posted: Thu 16th Jul 2026
Last updated: Thu 16th Jul 2026
9 min read
When developing and launching a food product, there are four key stages to consider.
Concept > Prototyping > Pilot scale > Large scale manufacture
Understanding what's required at each of these stages is crucial if your food product business is going to be successful.
Better your understanding of food hygiene. If you'll be handling food, you must get a food hygiene certificate – although I'd recommended getting one even if you won't be doing that.
Register with your local authority as a food business operator (FBO) at least 30 days before you plan to sell any food or drink products.
Understand what the law says about your product. The core regulations are broadly the same between retail and direct to customer (D2C) sales, but in retail you may need extra accreditation, certification or auditing.
Understand the Food Safety Act 1990. Under this law, it's your legal responsibility to make sure the food you sell is safe, is fit for purpose and doesn't mislead the consumer.
Understand food safety requirements such as HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) for manufacturing.
At this stage, you should start building your product specification. This means defining what your product is by considering the following:
Why are you making this product? Are there any market challenges or opportunities that you're trying to overcome or meet. If so, how will your product address this need?
Engaging product development specialists at this stage can help you thrash out your concept and rule in (or out) any ideas that may not be feasible in practice.
A prototype is a first version of the product. The purpose of this stage is to bring your concept to life and hone your product specification.
You may need specialist equipment or facilities to produce the product, and getting them at this stage can help you accelerate the process.
Here's a breakdown of areas to consider:
Facility: Can you do this work at home or need support? Need any specialist equipment?
Ingredients: Can you start with small bags from the supermarket or do you need a commercial supply of ingredients?
If you need to use ingredient suppliers, can you get samples before buying in large quantities? Are there ingredients that will be sensitive to aspects of the production process (for example, when heat is applied)?
Process: Document the entire process, including what's failed. (By documenting, I mean writing it down, taking pictures or videos, or drawing pictures yourself.)
Feedback: Get relevant people (such as family, friends or consumers) to give their opinions on your prototype.
You might come up against obstacles in the following areas:
Procuring ingredients. Expect slow responses, long lead times and large minimum order quantities (MOQs).
Complex processes. If your process is complicated, seek advice on whether your process is commercially relevant (for example, can it be scaled?).
At the end of the prototyping stage, you should have the following:
A more accurate product specification
A process for engaging manufacturers, for when you need to scale up
Validation as a result of the feedback you received
Pilot scale will allow you to produce a small batch to test the market or run consumer trials.
This lessens some of the commercial risk and investment associated with making large volumes with a large-scale manufacturer.
Working with product development specialists and accredited manufacturing facilities will give you the support and confidence you need to make sure your product meets the necessary legal standards for your market.
Here's a breakdown of areas to consider:
Facility: Does it have the right level of food safety accreditations in place to match your route for selling? Are you happy with the food safety standards (HACCP, for example)?
Recipe/process: Is a handover needed? Can the equipment deliver the same product as pilot scale and meet the scale you need?
Ingredients: Can you negotiate smaller MOQs (minimum order quantities) from suppliers? Will the shelf life be adequate? Will this manufacturer already have suppliers who can provide the ingredients?
Packaging: Consider filling, sealing, labelling and shelf life, and whether you need primary, secondary and tertiary packaging.
Labelling: You need to know the regulations (The Food Information Regulations 2014) on what information packaging must include, and what you can and can't claim. It might be worth seeking advice from a regulatory/labelling expert.
Testing: Depends on the product. Tests such as microbiology are essential to show the product is safe, but consider others such as allergens, nutritional, pesticides, heavy metals.
Create a sample testing plan to help manage shelf-life testing over the desired period. A manufacturer or a product development specialist can provide support here.
Storage and distribution: Does this meet your food safety standards?
Pilot scale can present a few challenges:
Cost per unit will be higher than large scale. However, this may be a lower investment than a commitment for large MOQs with a large manufacturer while testing the market.
Finding small scale for a first product batch can be hard. This is especially true if your production process is innovative. Innovative processes can be hard to scale – you may need investment for your own facility and, depending on the manufacturer's involvement, you may lose processing IP (intellectual property).
Scaling. Will the pilot-scale process be feasible at the next level up?
At the end of the pilot-scale stage, you should have the following:
A small batch of the finished product so you can test the market
A specification and process for the next stage of manufacturing
An indication of the cost per unit to manufacture
A product to initiate early shelf-life studies
To proceed with large-scale manufacture, you'll have ideally confirmed demand and established a market for your product using pilot-scale products (where feasible).
Producing higher volumes allows you to build your market and expand into larger ones.
Large scale means larger MOQs and, potentially, committing to a yearly agreement with a manufacturer.
Changes you make when converting to large-scale manufacturing may result in a new product specification.
Here's a breakdown of areas to consider:
Accreditations: Does it have the right level of food safety standards in place to match your route for selling?
Ingredients: Manufacturers can often pull ingredients from their own suppliers or sources primarily.
Packaging: The production line may cause product dimensions or packaging to change.
Labelling: Labels will need updating (new ingredients + new facility = new allergen considerations).
Testing: Same considerations as at pilot scale.
Storage and distribution: Make sure it meets food safety standards.
Large scale can present a few challenges:
The manufacturer may withhold its recipe and information about its manufacturing process, particularly if you go to them straight from the concept phase.
The need to commit to large MOQs every year.
The process may not upscale directly from prototype or pilot scale to large scale.
At the end of the large-scale stage, you should have a product ready for your market.
Be aware of your responsibilities as a food business operator (FBO).
Start with a product specification in mind and refine it through prototyping.
Scale cautiously to test the market without investing too much money.
Work with experts to make sure your product is safe and legal.
SPG Innovation Limited is here to help!
We're a food science consultancy based in Nottingham. We have a food grade kitchen and laboratory facility where we support clients to develop and launch products.
We have over 50 years of combined experience and commercial success innovating in the food and drink sector, with deep knowledge across the value chain from concept creation to customer.
Concept development
Prototyping
Small-scale batch production
Regulatory and labelling guidance
Technical handover to pilot-scale or large-scale manufacturer
Recipe problem-solving
