What Is HACCP Certification and Why It Matters for Every Restaurant Owner

If you run a restaurant, banquet hall, or institutional kitchen in Ontario, the words HACCP-certified should matter to you — not just during an inspection, but every time you accept a delivery from a food supplier.

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. It’s a globally recognized food safety management system that identifies potential biological, chemical, and physical hazards in the food production process and puts specific controls in place to prevent them at every critical stage. It’s the difference between a supplier who says their food is safe and one who can prove it with documentation.

What HACCP Actually Means in Practice

A HACCP-certified facility has documented critical control points at every stage of production — from receiving raw materials to shipping finished product.Temperature logs. Sanitation protocols. Traceability records linking every batch to a specific delivery. Regular third-party audits that verify the system is working. When something goes wrong in food production — and unexpected things do happen — a HACCP-certified operation can trace it, contain it, and correct it immediately.

For a restaurant owner, this matters in two specific ways. First, if there is ever a food safety incident and public health investigators come knocking, your supplier’s HACCP documentation becomes part of your defense. Second, if you supply a chain account, a hotel, a hospital, or a government food program, they will ask for proof of your supplier’s certifications before they put your food on their tables.

D&D Poultry Has Been HACCP-Certified Since 2006

We implemented our HACCP program in 2006 — nearly two decades ago. We didn’t do it because a regulation forced us to. We did it because Kostas and Anastasia Dikeos, who founded this company after coming to Canada from Greece, built their reputation on the belief that the food they shipped had to be something they would serve to their own family.

That standard hasn’t changed. Three generations of the Dikeos family later — Betty as VP of Sales and Marketing, Alex as Project Manager, Georgia as Finance Manager, Bobby as Production Coordinator, and five grandchildren across the business — every product that leaves our Toronto facility goes through the same rigorous food safety protocols. HACCP isn’t a selling point for us. It’s how we operate.

What to Ask Your Current Chicken Supplier

• Are you HACCP-certified, and can you provide current documentation?
• When was your last third-party food safety audit and what were the results?
• Do you have full traceability from receiving to shipping on every product?
• Are your products halal-certified if that matters to your customer base?
• What is your protocol if a food safety issue is identified after delivery?

If your current supplier hesitates on any of those questions, that’s important information. Contact Darko Janovski at darko@ddpoultry.com or 416-609-9300 to discuss what a HACCP-certified Ontario chicken supply looks like for your operation. For large chain and institutional accounts, D&D Poultry works with McCormack Bourrie Sales & Marketing — a Concord, Ontario food broker with over thirty years of experience across restaurant, healthcare, hospitality, and retail grocery segments.