Diligence Diary: SFBB

Food-safety paperwork without the paperwork. Daily checks, temperature logs, photo evidence and inspector-ready reports for UK food businesses.

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Inspiration

I did not set out to build compliance software. I was trying to solve a problem in my own food business.

I work from an 11-foot burger van. After working in a larger kitchen, I found there simply was not room to keep a big food-safety folder open while preparing food and serving customers. When service got busy, the paperwork got pushed aside, and sometimes it got forgotten.

Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) is a food-safety management pack developed by the UK’s Food Standards Agency for small food businesses. Its diary provides a useful structure, but I needed a way to follow it that fitted the space and pace of my working day. Something that took up no counter space, reminded me when checks were due and made recording them quick and straightforward.

I tried other apps, but too often they felt like they made the job take longer. So I decided to build the app I wanted to use myself.

That became Diligence Diary. What started as a practical solution for my own van grew into a digital food-safety diary for other small food businesses facing the same pressures. The aim is to make it easier to keep a clear, consistent record while doing the work, and to have that evidence ready when it is needed.

What it does

Diligence Diary turns everyday UK food-safety record keeping into a quick, shared digital workflow. Teams can:

  • Complete opening and closing checks with a tap
  • Record fridge, freezer, hot-holding and chill-down temperatures
  • Attach photo evidence to deliveries, cleaning and corrective actions
  • Run daily, weekly and monthly cleaning schedules
  • Complete guided four-weekly management reviews
  • Work offline and sync records across staff devices
  • Export inspector-ready PDF or CSV reports
  • Let an inspector view records through a QR code without installing the app

Records are stored securely in the cloud and remain available when the business or its Environmental Health Officer needs them.

How I built it

The product combines an Android app, a responsive web manager and a cloud-backed data service. I modelled the workflow around the structure of the SFBB diary rather than forcing food businesses into a generic task app. Safety limits, corrective-action prompts and tamper-evident confirmed records make the product useful as evidence, not just as a checklist.

RevenueCat manages subscription entitlements and the monthly/annual product structure. Google Play handles Android distribution, while Stripe supports the web subscription path. The public site explains the product, pricing and compliance context, and the reporting system generates portable records that businesses retain control of.

Challenges

The hardest challenge was translating a regulated paper process into an interface that still feels fast during service. I had to balance speed with reliable audit trails, make offline activity reconcile cleanly when connectivity returns, and keep records consistent across several staff devices. Reporting was another major challenge: exports need to be readable to an inspector while accurately reflecting checks, temperatures, photos and corrective actions.

I also had to explain the relationship to SFBB clearly. Diligence Diary supports the method but is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Food Standards Agency.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

  • A published Android app on Google Play
  • End-to-end daily checks, temperature records, photo evidence and cleaning workflows
  • Four-weekly reviews and inspector-ready report exports
  • Cloud sync plus offline operation
  • RevenueCat subscription products with monthly and annual options
  • A web manager that works alongside the mobile app
  • A focused design that can be used quickly in a busy kitchen

What I learned

Food-safety software succeeds when it disappears into the working day. Clear status, minimal taps and sensible reminders matter more than adding extra administrative features. I also learned that ownership and portability of records are essential: businesses need to trust that their evidence can always be exported and presented independently.

What's next

Following the Google Play release, I will validate pricing with real food businesses, refine onboarding from user feedback, and continue improving reports and multi-device team workflows. Longer term, I want Diligence Diary to become the simplest route from a busy service to a calm, inspection-ready record.

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