How to Label Food to Sell to Restaurants

Selling to a local cafe is a steady, repeatable order, and it works differently from selling to a shopper. The kitchen needs your ingredient and allergen information for its own menu, whether or not a consumer panel applies. Here is how to label for it.

Build my label free

Do you need a Nutrition Facts panel to restaurants?

Panel depends on where you ship

Supplying a restaurant or cafe is business to business. If you deliver in bulk for them to use or repackage, a consumer Nutrition Facts panel may not apply, but the kitchen still needs your full ingredient and allergen information for their own menu. If you supply packaged items the cafe resells as is, treat it like retail, with the panel.

Nutripane builds the Nutrition Facts panel and the ingredient, allergen, and disclaimer label from your recipe, so you are ready whether this channel needs the panel or not.

What your label needs to sell to restaurants

✓Product name. The common name of the food, so a buyer knows what it is.
✓Net quantity. The weight or count in the package, usually shown on the front.
✓Ingredient list. Every ingredient, listed heaviest-first by weight.
✓Allergen statement. A Contains line for any of the nine major allergens in your recipe.
✓Business name and address. Who made the food and where they can be reached.
✓Home-kitchen disclaimer. The cottage food sentence your state requires, for direct sales.

What is different when you sell to restaurants

✓ A full ingredient and allergen statement for the kitchen
✓ Clear labeling on bulk containers with a made-on or use-by date
✓ A Nutrition Facts panel if the item is resold packaged

One thing sellers miss selling to restaurants

A restaurant has to declare allergens on its own menu, so it needs yours in writing. Give complete ingredient and allergen information even when a consumer panel is not required.

Popular foods to sell to restaurants

Bread Spice Blends Jam and Jelly Roasted Coffee

Questions

Do I need a nutrition label to sell to a restaurant?

It depends. Bulk product a kitchen cooks with may not need a consumer Nutrition Facts panel, but the restaurant still needs your full ingredient and allergen list for its own menu. Packaged items the cafe resells as is should carry the panel. Confirm with the buyer and your state.

What does a restaurant need from a food supplier?

A complete ingredient statement, a clear allergen list, clean labeling on every container with a made-on or use-by date, and often a spec sheet. Restaurants rely on your information to keep their own allergen declarations accurate. Nutripane builds the ingredient and allergen label from your recipe.

Selling somewhere else?

Farmers Markets Craft Fairs Bake Sales Farm Stands Pop-Up Shops Online Amazon Etsy Across State Lines Wholesale Grocery Stores

This page is general information, not legal advice. Food labeling, cottage food rules, and marketplace policies vary by state and change over time. Confirm current requirements with your state's cottage food program and the place you plan to sell. See your state's rules or another channel.