---
title: "Sandwich Shop Opening Checklist"
canonical: "https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/sandwich-shop-opening-checklist/"
---

> Source: https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/sandwich-shop-opening-checklist/

[Checklists](/checklists/) / [Sandwich Shop & Deli](/checklists/sandwiches-delis/) / Opening & Cold Line Set-Up

# Sandwich Shop & Deli Opening Checklist

A Sandwich Shop & Deli opening checklist starts with the cold line: **probe and log every prep well, under-counter fridge and display case at 0–5°C (32–41°F) before a single sandwich is built**. These 9 checks run from the cold-line log through the day-7 discard list and open-condiment dates to the grab-and-go case, and every one is backed by published data - 91.2% of deli departments in FDA's 397-collection study were out of compliance on holding time and temperature. Get the line right before open and the rest of the day is prep, not recovery.

[Run this checklist - free](/run/sandwiches-delis/?list=opening) [Download PDF](/checklists/pdf/peakscale-sandwiches-delis-checklists.pdf)[Download Excel](/checklists/excel/peakscale-sandwiches-delis-checklists.xlsx)

The checklist · 13 checks

### Cold before you build

**1\. Check and record the temperature of every prep well, under-counter fridge, walk-in fridge and display case before you build the first sandwich (0–5°C / 32–41°F)** Keeping food at the right temperature is the rule delis fail most often. The reading tells you whether last night's stock is still safe to sell.

**2\. Check the product's temperature, not the air. Read the top of the pan in each well** The air temperature can look fine while the top inch of tuna mayo or sliced chicken sits well above 5°C (41°F).

**3\. Fill prep-well pans only to the fill line. Keep lids and covers closed between builds** Overfilled pans and open lids are the two easiest ways to push a well above 5°C (41°F) before lunch.

**4\. If any unit is above 5°C (41°F), move the stock, record the time, and stop building from that unit until it is back in range** Food held above 8°C (46°F) cannot be sold. Decide that at 9am, not after it is on a customer's plate.

### Yesterday's stock decides today's line

**5\. Work through the discard list FIRST. Take anything at day 7 or beyond off the line before doors open** Under the US FDA Food Code, opened ready-to-eat food has a strict 7-day life at 5°C (41°F) or below. Use the day count your own food code requires. It is better to pull it at open than to find it mid-shift.

**6\. Check the date on every open condiment, dressing, spread and prep container poured into another container** Tubs poured into another container have no printed date. Undated prep is the part of rotation you can't see, and the easiest discard to miss.

**7\. Check yesterday's unsold-by-filling and sell-out log before you start prepping** It is the only number that tells you to make six tuna and twelve chicken today, not the other way round.

### Set the line and the case up to sell

**8\. Confirm every bestselling filling, bread and salad item is in stock and at the right level (par)** A bestseller that's out of stock at 12:15 is a sale you can never get back, and a customer who tries the shop next door instead.

**9\. Set up the grab-and-go case: full, faced, with labels and use-by dates facing outward** A faced case shows you what you actually have. Visible dates stop the oldest pack from being the last one picked up.

### Hygiene & safety

**10\. Wash your hands with soap before you put on gloves.** Gloves do not stop germs that are already on dirty hands.

**11\. Wash your hands again after every break, including bathroom breaks.** A break lets new germs onto your hands before you touch food again.

**12\. Check the allergen list against today's fillings before you open the line.** Staff need the right allergen facts ready before the first customer asks.

**13\. Look for pest signs, such as droppings or gnaw marks, around the prep area before you open.** A quick look catches a pest problem before customers see it.

## Frequently asked questions

**What temperature should a sandwich prep well be kept at?**

0–5°C (32–41°F), measured in the product rather than the air, with 8°C (46°F) as the do-not-sell line. FDA's deli-department study found the item 'foods requiring refrigeration are held at the proper temperature' 70.0% out of compliance, and CDC's deli work found 1 in 6 delis running a refrigerator that was too warm. The gap between 4°C and 8°C is not cosmetic: Listeria colony growth roughly doubled between them, 0.03 versus 0.06 per hour.

**What should you do first when opening a deli?**

Action the discard list before the doors open. Opened ready-to-eat product has a maximum of 7 days at 5°C (41°F) or below under the FDA Food Code, counting the day of opening, and date marking is out of compliance in 52.2% of deli departments - so anything at day 7 or beyond comes off the line first, along with any undated open pack. Pulling at open costs you a few minutes; finding it mid-service costs you the service.

**How often should cold line temperatures be checked?**

At least once in each part of the day - opening, pre-lunch, post-lunch and close - not just once at open. Display and storage units drift during trade: in a survey of 780 pre-packaged sandwiches at retail, 29% were stored above 5°C (41°F) and 11% above 8°C (46°F), with one sample on display at ambient 17.9°C (64°F). A reading taken only at 8am tells you nothing about the pan you are building from at 1pm.

## More Sandwich Shop & Deli checklists

[Goods-In & Receiving](/checklists/sandwich-shop-receiving-checklist/)[Slicer, Boards & Cross-Contact](/checklists/deli-slicer-cleaning-checklist/)[Date Marking, Rotation & Shelf Life](/checklists/deli-date-marking-checklist/)[Time-of-Day Production & Grab-and-Go](/checklists/sandwich-prep-production-checklist/)[Closing, Waste & Overnight Cold Chain](/checklists/sandwich-shop-closing-checklist/)[Weekly Checks](/checklists/sandwich-shop-weekly-checklist/)

One free app has all of them: [open the Sandwich Shop & Deli Checklists app](/run/sandwiches-delis/) - offline, no account, add it to your home screen.

## Sources

Every statistic on this page comes from public inspection and food-safety data:

-   [FDA Retail Delis 2015–2016](https://www.fda.gov/media/148247/download?attachment)
-   [CDC EHS-Net, Retail Delis practice summaries](https://www.cdc.gov/restaurant-food-safety/php/practices/retail-delis.html)
-   [CIDRAP report on FDA risk factor study](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/foodborne-disease/disease-hazards-common-food-operations-fda-says)
-   [FDA Trend Analysis Report](https://www.fda.gov/media/157225/download)
-   [FDA Food Code 3-501.17, Date Marking](https://www.fda.gov/media/127796/download)
-   [CDC MMWR, Retail Deli Slicer Cleaning Frequency](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6512a2.htm)
-   [FDA/FSIS Comparative Risk Assessment, Lm in RTE Deli Meats](https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/2020-07/Comparative_RA_Lm_Exec_Summ_May2010.pdf)
-   [FSAI, Microbiological Safety of Pre-Packaged Sandwiches](https://www.fsai.ie/getmedia/efcf5ec9-2b81-45dc-835c-7a28a2887f16/prepackaged_sandwiches.aspx?ext=.pdf)
-   [Champions 12.3, The Business Case for Reducing Food Loss and Waste: Restaurants](https://champions123.org/publication/business-case-reducing-food-loss-and-waste-restaurants)
-   [ReFED Fact Sheet: Food Waste by Sector - Retail](https://refed.org/uploads/by-sector-retail.pdf)
-   [Harrison, Peters & Fielding, J Appl Microbiol 2000](https://agris.fao.org/search/en/records/65dfa7130f3e94b9e5daeb5e)
-   [Purdue University release on Simmons/Oliver retail deli Listeria studies](https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/archive/releases/2015/Q1/study-listeria-pathogen-is-prevalent,-persistent-in-retail-delis.html)
-   [Chilled Food Association, The 10 Day Rule for Shelf Life](https://www.chilledfood.org/the-10-day-rule-for-shelf-life/)
-   [CDC Vital Signs: Preventing Norovirus Outbreaks](https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/norovirus/)
-   [Hong Kong CFS, Microbiological Quality of Higher Risk Buns and Sandwiches](https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fm_01_18.html)
-   [EFSA/ECDC EU One Health 2024 Zoonoses Report](https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/plain-language-summary/european-union-one-health-2024-zoonoses-report)
-   [Bartsch et al., Public Health Reports 2018, via Johns Hopkins BSPH](https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2018/a-foodborne-illness-outbreak-could-cost-a-restaurant-millions-study-suggests)
-   [IGA, 4 Ways To Reduce Deli Shrink](https://www.iga.com/insights/4-ways-to-reduce-deli-shrink)