Practical articles for small UK food businesses — from allergen labelling compliance to recipe costing and running a more profitable kitchen.
Scale recipes, track costs, manage allergens and print Natasha's Law labels — what bakery recipe software actually needs to do.
Updated 2026 guide — who it applies to, what must be on every PPDS label, enforcement and the most efficient way to comply.
Legals, allergens, pricing, day-to-day ops, marketing, real earnings and a 90-day action plan — the honest end-to-end guide.
How do bakeries calculate recipe costs? Is Excel enough? How do you create Natasha's Law labels from recipes? 10 common bakery software questions answered.
Natasha's LawWhat is Natasha's Law in simple terms? Does it apply to cakes and cupcakes? Are cake counter slices PPDS? Every key question answered for UK cake sellers.
Cake ShedDo cake sheds need to be registered? Can you run one from your garden? Food hygiene certificates, insurance, Natasha's Law labels and honesty boxes — all covered.
Allergen ManagementThe legal definition of gluten-free, dedicated equipment requirements, cross-contamination risks, coeliac safety, and how to label correctly — all explained.
Natasha's LawThe nuanced answer: it depends whether the activity counts as a food business. PTA bake sales, school tuck shops and fêtes — when the rules apply and when they don't.
Starting OutRegistration, food hygiene, Natasha's Law labelling, recipe costing, insurance and the software that keeps it all running — everything you need in one guide.
Recipe CostingCelebration cakes, traybakes, hot drinks — which bakery products carry the best margins? Real food cost data, worked examples and how to calculate your own.
Recipe ManagementFrom paper cards to Excel to dedicated software — how professional chefs and food business owners manage, standardise and scale their recipes.
Natasha's LawYes — PPDS rules apply to anyone selling pre-packed food directly to consumers, including home bakers and cake sheds. Here's exactly what you need to do.
Kitchen ManagementFrom recipe management to POS to accounting — the complete software stack that professional chefs and food business owners use to run their kitchens.
Food SafetyThe shelf life guideline for cakes with fresh cream or perishable fillings — which products it applies to, how long they last, and how to label them correctly.
Recipe CostingFood 30%, labour 30%, overhead 30%, profit 10% — the most widely quoted benchmark in food service. What it means, whether it applies to small businesses, and how to use it.
Kitchen ManagementThe 3-zone, 4-function workflow model for organising a commercial kitchen efficiently — what it means, why it matters for food safety, and how it applies to small kitchens.
Food SafetyWhat daily due diligence records UK law requires, what EHOs look for, temperature thresholds, opening/closing/delivery checks, corrective actions and common mistakes.
Food SafetyThe 7 HACCP principles explained, step-by-step plan writing, critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, record-keeping and common mistakes for small UK food businesses.
Home BakingLegals, allergens, pricing, day-to-day ops, marketing, real earnings and a 90-day action plan for launching a UK cake shed in 2026.
Food BusinessVehicle, legals, gas safety, pitches, pricing, real earnings and a 90-day plan for launching a UK food van or street food trailer in 2026.
Home BakingRegistration, allergens, pricing celebration cakes, marketing on Instagram, real earnings and a 90-day plan for a UK home bakery in 2026.
Food BusinessPitches, licences, gazebos, labelling, pricing, real earnings and a 90-day plan for launching a UK food market stall in 2026.
Bakery ManagementThink bakery management software is out of your budget? Here's what affordable actually means for small teams — and how to find the right tool without overpaying.
Inventory ManagementBakery inventory feels manageable until it isn't. A practical guide to tracking stock simply and automatically — without the spreadsheet headache.
Bakery ManagementEvery growing bakery hits a point where spreadsheets stop working. Here's an honest, practical guide to finding the right bakery management software for your operation.
Kitchen ManagementMostly spreadsheets and notebooks. Here's what small restaurant operators actually need from kitchen management software — and what's worth switching for.
Recipe CostingMost small food businesses are undercharging because they're guessing their costs. Here's what recipe costing software actually does and what to look for.
Allergen ManagementAllergen tracking can't be left to memory or sticky notes. Here's what UK law requires and how the right software makes compliance automatic and reliable.
Recipe CostingWho the free calculator is built for, how to get accurate results, and what changes when you move to the full FoodCore platform.
Bakery ManagementComparing bakery management software options for small UK bakeries — spreadsheets, enterprise tools, and purpose-built systems. What actually works.
Bakery OperationsHow small UK bakeries can track ingredients, stock levels, and batch production without notebooks or spreadsheets. Practical guide with real examples.
Recipe ManagementAn honest answer to whether small food businesses actually need recipe management software — what it does, when it's worth it, and what to look for.
Catering & RestaurantsWhat small restaurants and catering businesses actually need from recipe software — scaling, per-event allergen management, and accurate job costing.
Kitchen ManagementWhere the 30–40 hours of monthly admin time actually comes from in small food businesses — and which tasks kitchen management software genuinely automates.
Inventory ManagementWhy spreadsheets fail for food inventory — the stale snapshot problem and batch multiplication errors — and how connected inventory tracking works instead.
Recipe ManagementWhat small bakeries actually need from recipe management software — and what to ignore.
Allergen ComplianceWhat Natasha's Law requires, who it applies to, and the practical steps to get compliant without spending hours on manual label updates.
Team & OperationsRole-based access, audit logs, and why named accounts matter for food safety compliance.
ProfitabilityGross margin, food cost percentage, waste tracking, carbon footprint — and how to start measuring them.
Meal PlanningHow to meet nutritional standards, manage budgets, and handle allergens across a rotating menu.
Kitchen ManagementHow to plan what you're making, when, and in what quantities — before Monday morning.
Kitchen ManagementReorder thresholds, low-stock alerts, and why connecting production to stock changes everything.
New FeatureScan any product barcode with your phone to import nutrition, allergens and ingredients automatically into FoodCore. No typing, no manual data entry.
Kitchen ManagementAn independent comparison of the leading kitchen management tools for small UK food businesses — features, pricing and who each one suits.
Allergen ComplianceStep-by-step: what must appear on your bakery labels, how to bold allergens correctly, and the fastest way to generate compliant labels at scale.
Kitchen ManagementCake businesses have specific needs — recipe scaling, allergen labels, order tracking. Here's what software actually helps and what's just noise.
Allergen ComplianceWhat allergen label software actually does, what to look for, and how to generate PPDS-compliant labels without rebuilding them every time a recipe changes.
Software ComparisonA side-by-side comparison of FoodCore and Jelly — features, pricing, allergen compliance and which type of food business each suits best.
Software ComparisonKafoodle is built for large hospitality groups. FoodCore is built for small producers. Here's how they compare on price, features and ease of use.
Software ComparisonBoth handle recipe management — but one is built for nutritional analysis, the other for small UK food business operations. Here's how they compare.
Software ComparisonNory is an enterprise restaurant operations platform. FoodCore is built for small food producers. An honest comparison of features, pricing and fit.
Food BusinessRegistration, hygiene ratings, insurance, labelling — everything you need to know before you start selling food from your home kitchen.
Food BusinessFrom registering with your local authority to pricing your meals and managing allergen labels — a practical guide to launching a meal prep business.
Home BakingWhat you legally need before you sell your first bake — registration, labelling, hygiene certificates and what counts as a home food business.
Software ComparisonA practical roundup of the tools small food businesses actually use — recipe management, labelling, orders, accounting and more.
ProfitabilityWhat food cost percentage means, how to calculate it for your business, and the benchmarks that tell you whether your margins are healthy.
Food LabellingPre-packed for direct sale explained — what counts as PPDS, which labelling rules apply, and common examples from bakeries and food stalls.
ProfitabilityWhat good margins look like for small food businesses, why most operators undercharge, and the levers you can pull to improve profitability.
Recipe ManagementIf you're still managing recipes in Excel, you're likely losing money on every order. Here's what purpose-built recipe management software does differently.
Allergen ComplianceHow to track, document and communicate allergens across your recipes and labels — and avoid the most common compliance mistakes.
Food LabellingFrom the 14 major allergens to PPDS rules and best-before dates — a plain-English guide to what must appear on your food labels.
Kitchen ManagementA practical breakdown of what kitchen management software does, what features matter for small operations, and how to choose the right tool.
Recipe ManagementStop guessing your margins. Learn how to calculate the true cost of every dish — ingredients, waste, labour — so you can price profitably.
FoodCore handles recipe costing, Natasha's Law labels, shopping lists and order tracking — all in one place.
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