At the same time, the work is cold, wet and repetitive. Chilled rooms, wash-downs and long shifts on a packing line all affect what staff need. Getting the uniform right helps you pass audits and keeps staff comfortable.
Designed against foreign bodies
High-care and high-risk areas usually call for garments with no external pockets above the waist, press studs instead of buttons, and closed cuffs. Hairnets, beard snoods and disposable sleeves keep hair and fibres out of product. Some sites specify metal-detectable studs and pens.
Your HACCP plan, customer codes of practice and site rules decide the exact requirement. Check them before choosing garments, and record the standard in your uniform policy.
Colour coding and zones
Food factories often use colours to separate low-risk and high-risk zones, or raw and cooked areas, so cross-contamination is easy to spot. White is common in production, with coloured trims or hats showing the zone.
Keep branding minimal in production areas; some sites prefer no embroidery on high-care garments because loose threads are a hazard. Lockers and changing areas that keep production garments apart from outdoor clothing are part of the same system.
Cold rooms and wash-downs
Chilled and frozen areas need thermal layers under hygiene clothing, and freezer work may need specialist cold-store wear. Wash-down teams need waterproof aprons, wellingtons and gloves suitable for the cleaning chemicals.
Food-safe safety wellingtons with slip-resistant soles are the usual footwear, as floors are wet and fatty. Look at the EN ISO 20345 marking and slip resistance. Long shifts standing on hard, cold floors are tiring, so anti-fatigue insoles help.
Office, dispatch and visitors
Outside production, embroidered polos, fleeces and softshells suit office, dispatch and drivers. Visitors entering production will need disposable coats, hairnets and overshoes; keep a stock at the entrance. Drivers delivering to supermarket depots may need hi-vis and boots to the depot's rules as well. Keep a clear, written line between garments worn outside and those worn in production. Branded lanyards or visitor tabards make guests easy to spot.
Where to put your logo
Keep production garments simple. Many food sites prefer no branding, or a small print, on high-care clothing because loose embroidery threads could become a foreign body; check your site rules and customer codes. Embroider the logo on polos, fleeces and softshells for office, dispatch and drivers, where branding is welcome. A printed logo on visitor tabards helps identify contractors on the floor.
Ordering for food production and packing
Most food production and packing start with healthcare and beauty tunics, disposable coveralls and overshoes and safety boots and wellingtons. You can order from one garment and add more as you take people on. The logo price drops at 9 and again at 25 garments, and every garment with a small logo counts towards it, so mixing styles and colours still gets the better price. Before anything is made, we embroider an actual sample of your logo and email you a photo to approve, or you can pop in to our Hull workshop to see it.
