Skip to main content

SQF Edition 10 audits start January 2027. Is your program ready? Learn more →

The Platform

Meet Beacon

The food safety and quality compliance AI platform

Explore platform
Audit-Ready AI

Every AI action, on the record

The audit trail writes itself.

  • Drafts SOPs and CAPAs from your data
  • Cites the exact SQF element
  • Logs every step for the auditor
Explore Audit-Ready AI

See it on your process

Book a demo
Expert Services

Consulting & Training

SQF certification, audit prep, and expert-led training

Advised by certified SQF lead auditors and HACCP Alliance instructors, from first certification through Edition 10.

Explore services
SQF Edition 10

Built in from day one

A structural update, not a refresh. The templates, records, and review workflows are already here.

Explore Edition 10

Not sure where to start?

Talk to an expert
First-Time Certification

From no program to SQF certified.

Your retailer says you need SQF, and you do not know where to start. That call from your biggest customer landed hard: no HACCP plan, no third-party audit history, a deadline. We have taken first-time facilities from exactly there to audit-ready, one step at a time, with a former SQF Lead Auditor setting the steps.

Book a call See how we do it
The reality

First-time certification is overwhelming. It doesn't have to be.

Three things make the first time feel impossible. None of them is a reason to go it alone, and every certified facility started exactly where you are: with a customer's deadline and a blank page.

You don't know what you don't know

SQF has 134 elements across food safety fundamentals, prerequisite programs, and your food safety plan. The Code is detailed, prescriptive, and structured like a regulation, which is why most facilities need a guide. Without one, you'll miss things you didn't know existed.

Traditional consulting is expensive and slow

A typical engagement takes 6 to 12 months and ends with a paper-based program that's outdated within months. The consultant leaves, and you're on your own for maintenance. We build the program inside Beacon instead, so it's digital, maintainable, and audit-ready from the start.

Your team has day jobs

The quality manager is also the food safety team leader, the production supervisor, and the person who fixes the metal detector when it breaks. Building a food safety program from scratch while running a facility is a 60-hour week. A sequenced roadmap with clear owners keeps it a project, not a second job.

The engagement

From blank page to audit-ready, in four phases.

The plan in the window above is how a facility with nothing gets to certification day: gap assessment first, then the build, then the people, then the rehearsal. Every phase is built inside Beacon, and every phase ends with something your team keeps.

The rhythm is steady, not heroic: a working session with your team most weeks, homework that fits around production, and a visible roadmap so everyone knows what is done and what is next. Your quality manager keeps their day job.

01

Gap assessment

We assess your facility against all 134 SQF elements, read the way an auditor reads them, and turn the Code into a sequenced roadmap with milestones, owners, and timelines.

You keep

Certification Roadmap Milestones, owners, and a realistic timeline
02

Program build

A HACCP plan built with your team across all seven principles, and every code prerequisite documented for your facility: pest control, allergens, hygiene, and the rest, version-controlled and e-signed in Beacon.

You keep

HACCP Plan v1.0 Approved · e-signed · prerequisite programs included
03

Implementation & training

Digital monitoring configured on tablets, schedules set, and food safety, production, and management trained on the program and Beacon, including IHA-accredited HACCP certification for your team leader.

You keep

A HACCP-Certified Team Leader IHA-accredited course · training records in Beacon
04

Mock audit

A full mock audit with the same scope, rigor, and standards as the certification body, flagging every gap and probe point before the real thing, with findings tracked to closure in Beacon.

You keep

Mock Audit Report Every gap flagged and closed before the CB arrives
Scope your path to certification
Deliverables

What you walk away with.

Complete HACCP plan built in Beacon All seven principles, developed with your team and version-controlled from day one.
All prerequisite programs documented Sanitation, pest control, GMPs, hygiene, and the rest, written to your facility.
Food defense plan Threat assessment and mitigation, area by area, with the records to show for it.
Allergen management program Mapping, changeover rules, and label controls matched to your actual lines.
Environmental monitoring program Risk-based sampling sites and frequencies your EMP can defend in an audit.
Supplier management framework Approval, documents, and certificate tracking for every vendor you receive from.
Digital forms and checklists configured Monitoring runs on tablets at the line, not clipboards in the back office.
Document control system populated One signed, current version of every document, with the history behind it.
Training records established Who was trained, on what, against which document version.
Mock audit completed with findings resolved The rehearsal run and every finding closed before the CB arrives.
Full Beacon platform access Unlimited users, so the program belongs to the whole team, not one login.
Team trained on program maintenance The people who run it day to day know how to keep it current without us.

Every one of these is scoped to your facility and built with your team, not handed over as a template. Tell us where you're starting from.

Who leads it

Your certification is led by a former SQF Lead Auditor who has walked first-time facilities from a blank page to a clean audit, backed by a team running preventive controls inside a working SQF-certified plant. Meet Jeff.

7,500+ audits on the bench Audit-side since 1977 1 working SQF plant

You don't have to have it figured out to start

Bring your customer's deadline and wherever you stand today, even if that's nothing yet. In 20 minutes you'll know whether certification by that date is realistic and what the first move is.

Book a call New to all of this? Start with the full SQF guide

Prefer the phone? (313) 484-4887

What happens next

01

Discovery call

About your facility and goals. Not a sales pitch.

02

See it in action

A live walkthrough of Beacon scoped to your operation.

03

Custom proposal

Software, consulting, and training sized to your facility.

You'll talk with a food safety expert, not a sales rep.

20 minutes · No commitment · No pressure

Prefer to start in writing?

Tell us about your facility

Send the basics and we come to the call already knowing your products, your customer's deadline, and roughly how much program you have today, even if the answer is none.

Gap assessment scoped to your facility
A realistic timeline against your customer's deadline
No commitment. Just a conversation
FAQ

Common questions about first-time SQF certification

Answers to the questions we hear most from facilities pursuing certification for the first time.

That's exactly our specialty. More than half the facilities we work with start from zero. No HACCP plan, no prerequisite programs, no document control. We build the entire program with you inside Beacon, from gap assessment through mock audit. The timeline is typically 6-9 months.
Every engagement is scoped, and three things set the effort for a first-time facility: how much of a program already exists (often little or nothing), your facility size, and your timeline. Because you are starting from zero, plan on a full build, HACCP plan, prerequisite programs, SOPs, and monitoring, not a light touch-up. After a discovery call and a gap assessment you get a specific number for your facility, not a rate-card guess. SQFI registration and the certification body's audit fees are separate, paid directly to those organizations.
Yes. SQF requires a trained food safety team leader with HACCP certification. We offer IHA-accredited HACCP certification courses that can be included in your engagement. Your team leader will understand the 7 principles of HACCP and be able to maintain the plan after we leave. Browse our best practices articles on food safety training and certification.
Certification isn't a one-time event. You'll have annual recertification audits and need to maintain your program year-round. Because your program is built inside Beacon, maintenance is dramatically easier than paper-based systems. We also offer ongoing compliance support if you want a food safety expert on call. Learn more about our food safety management software.
It's possible for smaller facilities with simpler product lines, but we'd rather give you a realistic timeline than an optimistic one. Rushing certification usually means cutting corners on implementation and training, which leads to lower audit scores and more findings. We'll assess your situation and give you an honest timeline.
No. The certification body is your choice, and it needs to be independent from your consultant. We can recommend reputable CBs based on your location and food sector, and we'll help you understand what to look for. But the final decision is yours.