SOP Template for Food Manufacturing, With an Example

A standard operating procedure, or SOP, is the written way one job is done in your kitchen: what it's for, who does it, the steps in order, the check at each step with its limit, what to do when a check fails, and the record it leaves. In a small food business, SOPs matter most the day someone other than the owner does the work: a new hire, a busy Saturday, the owner on holiday. A good one fits on a page, has a version and an approval, and matches the batch record, so following the SOP and filling in the record are the same act. In the example below, an SOP for frying and packing taro chips has nine steps, each with its check, limit and failure rule, and one cook's training is a version behind, which the sign-off sheet catches. Below are the parts of an SOP, the example, how to write and keep one current, and a free template.

The short version

• One SOP, one job: frying and packing chips, receiving a delivery, cleaning the fryer.
• Start with purpose, scope, who and equipment; then the steps in order.
• Give every step that matters a check and a limit, written as a value, not "OK".
• Say what happens when a check fails: stop, hold, rework, or ask.
• Name the record each step leaves, and make the batch record match the SOP.
• Give it a version, an approver and a review date; retrain on every new version.
• TaroStack's batch record forms carry the SOP's checks with limits and sign-off. More below.

The parts of an SOP

An example SOP: frying and packing taro chips

Windward Roots, the made-up taro business I use in these examples, wrote this when it hired its second cook:

Every check in the SOP has a line on the batch record, so the record proves the SOP was followed. The limits are this kitchen's own, from its recipe and its product specification; what that specification holds is in product specification sheet, and what happens when a check fails is in nonconforming product form.

Writing one that gets used

• Write it with the person who does the job, then have someone new follow it while you watch.
• One page if you can. If it's longer, it's probably two jobs.
• Values, not adjectives. "350 to 365°F", not "hot enough"; "at least 142 g", not "full".
• Put the failure rule next to the check, so nobody has to decide under pressure.
• Post it where the work happens, and keep the signed original with your records.

An SOP and a work instruction overlap: the SOP says what's done and why, and a work instruction shows how to do one step in detail, like the photos of a correct seal. Small kitchens often keep both on the same page.

Versions and training

Change the version, the date and the approval whenever a step, a check or a limit changes, and retrain everyone on the new version before they next do the job. The template's sign-off sheet shows the gap that matters: one cook trained on version 4, another still on version 3, which had a different fill-weight check. How the checks show up across a whole kitchen is in food quality control checklist, and what makes a record useful later is in food business record keeping.

Get the template

Download the SOP template. One sheet holds the SOP, filled in with the frying and packing example: type over it for each job. A second sheet keeps the training sign-off: who was trained on which version, by whom and when. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.

Where this stops working

An SOP on the wall and a batch sheet on a clipboard are two documents that drift apart. The SOP is updated to version 4 with a new weight check, the batch sheet still has version 3's boxes, and the cook fills in what's on the sheet. A check that isn't on the record isn't done, and a value written as a tick can't be checked later.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack makes the batch record the place the SOP's checks live, so following one means filling in the other.

The SOP's checks, on the batch record. Batch record forms carry your own checklist fields, tick boxes, numbers, text, choices and initials, with limits, so the oil temperature and the fill weight are entered as values and flagged when they're outside their limits. Batch-record forms can be printed for the line, with sign-off.

The recipe and its version, on every batch. Each product's recipe has versions, and every batch records the version it was made to, so "recipe version matches the one posted" is a fact, not a hope. Recording a batch notes which ingredient lots were used automatically.

And release that holds. A batch can sit on hold until it's checked and released, kept out of what's available to sell, and every movement is a permanent record of who, when and why.

Batch records with your own fields and limits, printable batch-record forms, recipes with versions and holds are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.

Questions people also ask

What should a food manufacturing SOP include?

A title, number and version, who approved it, its purpose and scope, who does it, the equipment, the steps in order, the check and limit at each step, what to do when a check fails, the records it makes, and a review date.

How do I write an SOP for food production?

Write it with the person who does the job, step by step, give every important step a measurable check and a limit, say what happens when a check fails, test it on someone new, and approve it with a version number.

What's the difference between an SOP and a work instruction?

An SOP says what's done, by whom and why, with its checks. A work instruction shows how one step is done in detail, often with photos. Small kitchens often keep them on one page.

How often should SOPs be reviewed?

On a set date, such as every six months or a year, and whenever a step, an ingredient, a piece of equipment or a limit changes. Retrain everyone on each new version.