HACCP for micro businesses (1-5 people) my food safety journey

Why is it so expensive to implement HACCP to my premises?  In the past few weeks I have been investigating how I might be able to implement HACCP to my very small compact business.  I have contacted and received several quotations from HACCP consultants.  Each of the quotations have started at around the $5000 mark and one local consultant is charging around $2500 to $3000 (just for the document).  So I was interested to know what it takes to write a document and implement this program and why does it cost so much. 

Here is how HACCP implementation works firstly you must write your HACCP document then this document must be sent to an Auditor to be reviewed and inspected to make sure that it complies with the codex alimentarius (the HACCP bible).    Some auditors charge you per hour to view your document others put an approximate amount (most quotations I have gotten it is 5 hours @ $100 - $150 per hour).  So after you have gotten your document all sorted you move to the next step which is known as the certification audit.  

The certification audit involves the Auditor walking around your premises checking your knowledge and your staff knowledge and asking questions.  If your premises and knowledge is not up to scratch you get a report to say where you have not performed.  An audit can cost anywhere from $800 to $1000 per visit.  So you really don't want them to come back anytime soon.

After you have passed the certification Audit you will have surveillance Audits which happens every 3/6 months to make sure you are not cheating in your implementation.  


The main thing for any business owner while implementing HACCP is to realise that it is a continual commitment it is not a once a year thing it is an every minute of the day thing.  Everything you do in the kitchen will in someway have a risk factor it is up to you to monitor those risks.

Ok so now that you know generally how HACCP is implemented from start to finish lets just do a summary of the costs.  Firstly there is the consultant fees currently I have 3 quotations cheapest is $3000 from a local consultant that only writes the document and how I implement it is up to me.  Second is a Melbourne based company that says I will take you from start to finish for around $6000, the last quotation is from Sydney which at the start of the conversation started at $5000 and ended up around $10000. 

In all these quotation I have found that they were all interested in scaring the business owner away from HACCP implementation.  The conversation would start this way with me telling them I want to implement HACCP and the first thing they focus on is that it is expensive, you have to do it right and don't get it wrong etc etc.  Now we know that consultants will come to your business and write your document and take you from start to finish for $6000, after you pay this consultant you have to hire the Auditor, which will cost you another approximately $1000.  So expect to pay around $7000 for your HACCP implementation if you want it done for you.  Knowing that you have to always improve and keep tabs on it.

So I investigated what I can do to implement this HACCP safety program by myself.  First I thought if I was to pay someone so much money I want to know what qualifications they have, I searched the qualifications and then found training courses for those qualifications.  So after doing that I have enrolled in a HACCP development course for $595 + some small fees and an Internal Audit course the total for the training for these two day courses are around $1300.  I found that there are a number of agencies that provide the training for these programs the most well priced I have found is, http://www.auscollege.com.au/.

I will update this blog once I have completed my courses, one at the beginning of March 2011 and one at the end of March 2011.