Not many have jumped through the hoops, but many have successfully gone the co-packer route, such as Girl Scout cookies, a lot of the BBQ Sauces are co-packed, as are many store brands such as Top Fresh (Chicago area). There are even a lot of co-packed pizzas being made, so many that there is a very strong co-packing industry just for pizza.
Keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with selling the product from your store, the problem and legalities begin when you sell the product from a remote location. For example, if I have a question about your sauce, and I’m buying it at your store, I can always ask you my question (such as "Does this product cantain any soy product?) and I should be able to get an answer before purchasing the product. Now, lets go to the local supermarket to buy the same product. Same question, but who do I ask? Answer, I must depend upon the required ingredient deck (statement of ingredients) for the answer. The law may also dictate what you call your product or how it is actually labeled, for example, Acme Fresh Tomato Sauce may not be an acceptable name if the product is made from tomato concentrate. The Food safety and HASSP issues are there because once your product goes on a supermarket shelf, many more consumers can be exposed to it, hence, if there is a food safety issue, the potenital for a major food safety crisis is much greater than it would be if they could buy it only at your store. Just look at what happened at PCA (Peanut Corporation of America).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
