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Processing and packaging your farm products can open new revenue streams, new markets, and higher margins. But what you are allowed to do, and where you are allowed to do it, depends on your product and your facility. IAC organizes and links the sources. The agencies set the rules. From raw product to packaged good. What it takes to legally process, scale, and sell value-added food.
What Value-Added Food Production Looks Like in Arkansas
University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension · Local Foods Program:
Value-added foods include packaged, refrigerated, fresh-cut, and frozen items that typically require processing in a permitted commercial kitchen. The University of Arkansas Local Foods program offers research-based webinars and resources covering value-added product trends, consumer buying shifts, product testing on a budget, and the facilities and technical assistance available across the state.
Turn Surplus and Second-Grade Produce Into Value-Added Products
University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension · Publication FSA56:
Lost revenue from unsold or second-grade produce is a real concern for small-scale farmers. This Extension publication walks producers through using surplus and cosmetically imperfect produce to develop new value-added food products, extending shelf life and capturing revenue that would otherwise be lost.
Value-Added Agriculture: Research, Commodity Profiles, and Product Development
Agricultural Marketing Resource Center · Iowa State University (USDA-funded):
The Agricultural Marketing Resource Center is a national information hub for value-added agriculture, with commodity and product profiles, market research, business development guidance, and a directory of consultants and service providers, helping producers evaluate which value-added products fit their operation and market before they invest.
Manufactured and Wholesale Food Permits: Plan Review and Inspection
Arkansas Department of Health Wholesale/Manufactured Foods Program:
Any facility manufacturing food for commercial sale in Arkansas must pass ADH plan review, pre-opening inspection, and annual inspection. The ADH Wholesale/Manufactured Foods program evaluates the manufacturing process, equipment, sanitation, and labeling. Plan review must be submitted and approved before construction or operation begins.
Arkansas Food Innovation Center: Shared Processing Facility for Producers
Arkansas Food Innovation Center (AFIC):
The Arkansas Food Innovation Center in Fayetteville is a certified, inspected facility that gives producers access to shared-use commercial kitchen space, processing and bottling equipment, food science expertise, and product development support, so you can develop and produce a commercial-scale product without building your own facility.
Low-Cost Certified Kitchens at County Fairgrounds:
Share Grounds turns existing county fairgrounds kitchens in Marshall, Rison, and McCrory into certified, rentable spaces for producers to pack produce, develop products, and manufacture packaged foods. Each location offers an on-site operations manager for product testing, regulatory guidance, and dry storage, with no long-term contracts or membership minimums.
https://www.uaex.uada.edu/business-communities/local-foods/share-grounds/default.aspx
Acidified and Canned Foods: Why Salsa, Pickles, and Sauces Need a Process Authority
FDA · Acidified and Low-Acid Canned Foods (21 CFR 108, 113, 114):
Acidified foods like salsa, pickles, and many sauces, and low-acid canned foods like canned vegetables, carry botulism risk and trigger additional federal rules. Producers must register each establishment, file scheduled processes with FDA, and have a Better Process Control School certified individual oversee production. Understand these requirements before you scale a canned or pickled product.
Better Process Control School: Required Certification for Canned and Acidified Foods
FDA-Recognized · Better Process Control School (BPCS):
Federal regulations require that production of acidified foods and low-acid canned foods packaged in hermetically sealed containers be supervised by someone who has completed a Better Process Control School. This certification covers thermal processing, acidification, and container closure. Find a recognized course before producing any product that requires a filed process.
