KitchenLog

Date: 30 Sept 2026 · Idea: catalog row E7, digital food-safety (HACCP) logs · Working name: KitchenLog (check trademark and domain; see README)

Verdict

No as described. No as a UK care-home kitchen log. Go, small and conditional, as FSMA 204 traceability records for small US produce distributors on QuickBooks, and only with access to the food-distribution trade.

As described (an auto-generated HACCP plan, daily temperature, cleaning and cooling logs, optional sensors, inspector-ready reports), the chance of $10k MRR by month 24 is ~1.5%. The recommended wedge raises it to ~7% at ~15 hrs/week and ~14% full-time, with the founder conditions in WHAT-TO-DO-AND-AVOID.md met. Tier B ($20k MRR, profitable): ~2% / ~5%. All figures are judgment estimates.

The five things that matter

1. Kitchen logs are a commodity with no deadline. In the UK, digital versions of the FSA's free pack sell from £4.99 a month, and at least six apps sit under £40. In the US, Jolt, Crunchtime/Zenput, ComplianceMate (now Ladle) and FoodDocs sell through sales teams, bundled with sensors. Paper is free, and inspectors accept it (10, F10–F11).
2. The UK care-home wedge is already taken. Navitas and Checkit market sensors to care homes. Trail belongs to The Access Group, which also sells care-home software. There's no rule forcing a switch from paper.
3. FSMA 204 has what kitchen logs lack: a fixed federal date and a defined output. The compliance date is 20 July 2028, and Congress made it binding in Nov 2025. On request, a distributor must hand the FDA an electronic sortable spreadsheet within 24 hours (10, F1–F2). Walmart and Kroger started demanding the data in 2025.
4. But the traceability market is crowded too. Produce ERPs (Famous) say their customers are mostly ready. GrubMarket owns WholesaleWare and Procurant Trace. ReposiTrak is free for wholesalers, and $59+ a month for suppliers. FoodReady sells a QuickBooks-linked tool from ~$99 a month. The opening is only the distributors who never bought a produce ERP. How many there are is unverified.
5. The timing is late and fragile. Buying will bunch into the 12 months before July 2028 (months 10–22 of this plan). A second delay, through another appropriations rider, would push most revenue past month 24.

Feature sort (headline)

• Table stakes (for the wedge): traceability plan template, record storage, audit log, user roles, exports.
• Differentiators: phone-based receiving capture (scan or photo) that ties lot codes to QuickBooks bills; lot codes carried onto invoice lines and sent to customers; the one-click FDA sortable spreadsheet; a monthly timed mock recall; broken-case handling as FDA flexibilities land.
• Distractions: temperature, cleaning and cooling logs; sensors; consumer QR codes; a mobile app store release.
• Liabilities: auto-generated HACCP plans presented as authoritative; any "compliant" or "recall-proof" claim; hardware; EDI to large retailers.

Most likely cause of death

Nobody needs a new vendor. Distributors on produce ERPs are covered, ReposiTrak gives receiving data to wholesalers free, and QuickBooks-linked tools already exist. Early warning: by day 60, fewer than 5 distributors will pay ~$1,000 for a readiness sprint. See 05.

Next 90 days

Do: 40 distributor calls, 10 consultant calls, and 5 paid readiness sprints by 29 Nov 2026, each producing a real FDA-format spreadsheet from the customer's own invoices. Build only receiving capture, the QuickBooks invoice link and the spreadsheet export. See 08. Stop: anything involving kitchens, temperatures or sensors.