How To Start Frozen Food Business In South Africa

What are Frozen Food?

Freezing food preserves it from the time it is prepared to the time it is eaten. Since early times, farmers, fishermen, and trappers have preserved grains and produce in unheated buildings during the winter season.

How To Start Frozen Food Business In South Africa

STEP 1: Decide on the Product You Want to Sell

Firstly, determine what product or group of products you want to sell.

Knowing your product category will inform the type of regulations you will have to comply with, in your business. You may decide to sell cooked food at a restaurant or in a food truck, perhaps open a meat deboning plant or butchery or run a sandwich shop.

You must know what you want to sell, determine its quality characteristics and ensure that the product complies with food safety requirements and legislation.

Nutritional Analysis and Labelling

If your product is not sold immediately after preparation, you must conduct a nutritional analysis that you will need to put on the packaging.

The nutritional analysis will determine your product’s nutritional composition and follow labelling requirements as per Regulation R146 (Regulations relating to the labelling and advertising of foodstuffs).

Shelf-life Study

In addition, you may have to conduct a shelf-life study validation. This helps determine how long your product will last on the shelf before it is unsuitable for consumption. Your study should take into account the following:

Physical characteristics of the products
Sensory properties
Microbiological properties and
Chemical properties of the product

After you have conducted shelf-life studies, you will have to put either the “Best Before Date” or “Expiry Date” on the product label.

STEP 2: Implement Processes to Ensure Product Safety and Quality

You should implement relevant processes that will guarantee product safety and quality.

These processes could be:

Temperature control to maintain the cold chain if your product is temperature-sensitive.
Housekeeping, cleaning and hygiene measures to ensure your product is prepared in a safe, clean and uncontaminated environment.
Personnel Hygiene practices for your Staff to prevent cross-contamination.
Waste control to prevent improper storage of waste that can end up contaminating the final product.
Pest control measures to prevent pest infestation, which if uncontrolled, could lead to product contamination.
Maintenance of equipment and facilities to prevent contamination by foreign materials.
Traceability procedures detailing traceability from receiving raw materials to final product dispatch.

To only mention a few.

You must ensure that you keep documentation. An example would be Standard Operating Procedures specifying how the above will be done in the facility. Record keeping is important to ensure there is evidence of complying with these requirements.

STEP 3: Ensure Your Premises and Equipment are Suitable

What is the most basic Food Safety Regulation I should implement as a food business?

Regulations R638: 2018 is the most basic food safety legislation every food handling business must comply with.

As per Regulation 5 (requirements for food premises) of Regulations R638, food premises must be suitable for food handling. Therefore, the food premises must be kept in a condition that does not:

create a health hazard for food and
designed in a way that prevents proper cleaning.

Food premises must protect the food from contamination or spoilage from:

poisonous or offensive gases
vapours
odours
smoke
soot deposits
dust
moisture
insects or other vectors
other physical, chemical (including unintended allergens) or biological contamination
pollution
rain
any other agent whatsoever

In essence, the food premises must be sufficiently covered and protected from any possible source of contamination.

STEP 4: Get the Necessary Training for You and Your Staff

What Food Safety Training do I need as Food Business Owner and as a Food Handler?

All food business owners or managers or any person recognised as a person in charge of the food premises must get food safety training.

The training requirements are set out on Regulation 10 of the R638: 2018. In addition to the training of the persons in charge, ALL food handlers must also receive food safety training annually.

A person in charge who has been found competent can provide this training.

It is the responsibility of the person in charge to keep all training records proving successful training. Should the person in charge not be comfortable providing this training, they may ask a food safety training institution like ASC Consultants to conduct training. Our Regulation R638:2018 Training has proven to be the most popular of all our training interventions.

STEP 5: Attain a Certificate of Acceptability

To legally sell any foodstuff in South Africa, except unprocessed agricultural products, you must apply for a Certificate of Acceptability from the local authority, which would typically be your municipality. This certificate must be in place before you start trading.

Once you have applied for the certificate of acceptability (See Annexure A of the regulation on page 31), the municipal environmental inspector will visit your food premises and inspect the following:

Food premises in general whether they are conducive for food handling.
Surrounding areas and their potential to contaminate food manufactured at your premises, as well as your risk mitigation measures should there be a possibility of contamination.
Waste and pest control measures put in place.
Training file for you as a person in charge and that of your staff members.

Your application should be processed by the local authority as soon as possible. An Inspector may require more information from you after the submission of your application.

It is essential to note that the COA must be displayed in an area visible to the public. Should that not be possible, the COA must be immediately available upon request.

A COA cannot be transferred from one person to another and/or from one food premise to another.

STEP 6: Comply With All Other Relevant Legislation

What Legislation Do I need to Comply with as a Food Business?

You must comply with all other relevant South African laws and regulations, including municipal by-laws. The list of regulations includes the following:

The Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act 54 of 1972
Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997
Tax Law ; SARS, VAT, Income Tax, Customs Tax,
Companies Act 71 of 2008,
Close Corporations Act 69 of 1984,
Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2009 and the Competition Act 89 of 1998.

Find out additional relevant laws, including those applicable to the product being handled or manufactured.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Do you need a license to sell food in South Africa?

If you are a hawker selling food and meals, which you take from place to place or sell from a vehicle, you need to have a licence. You will need to apply for a licence from the City’s Trade Licence Department. In addition, you will need to pay a once-off application fee.

Can I sell food from home South Africa?