Case Study: Coppa Butchery and AgriForaging Compliance Services

Client: Coppa Butchery

Location: 21724 E Mission Ave, Liberty Lake, WA 99019

Contact: info@coppabutchery.com

Website: https://www.coppabutchery.com/

With over a decade of experience in the restaurant industry, Steve’s developed a deep appreciation for quality ingredients and the art of preparing food. Over time, his passion grew specifically for butchery, drawn by the craftsmanship and tradition involved in working with meat. This passion ultimately led him to open Coppa Butchery alongside his wife, combining their shared commitment to excellence and community.

Coppa Butchery Today and What Changed

Scope 

Coppa Butchery serves the greater Spokane region as a retail butcher with a growing prepared foods program.

New Lanes 

The team stepped into three process lanes that raise the bar on control. Sous vide. Reduced oxygen packaging. Small batch curing.

Implications 

Each adds anaerobic risk, time and temperature control, labels that match process, and records that prove the work.

Oversight 

Retail oversight is through Spokane Regional Health District.

Objective 

Keep the craft, meet inspection, make it readable on the floor.

What Inspection Needed to See at Coppa

Sous Vide 

Inspectors looked for validated time and temperature tables, cooling and reheating that matched those tables, and clear hold limits that staff could follow in live service.

Reduced Oxygen Packaging 

They looked for seal checks at the bench, vacuum verification, oxygen readings where useful, shelf life support tied to product and process, and storage statements placed where customers cannot miss them.

Curing 

They looked for salt and nitrite calculations done before the batch, measured weight loss over time, targets for water activity and pH where appropriate, and sanitation verification with environmental monitoring focused on Listeria in the spaces that matter.

Traceability 

Labels had to track the process. Records had to link lots, logs, and labels without drama.

Regulatory Pathway for Coppa in Spokane, Washington

Mapping 

We mapped each activity to Washington retail code and to Spokane practice.

Triggers 

We identified where a variance could be triggered and the controls that keep that review straightforward.

Sequence 

We sequenced the build so inspection could verify one step at a time against documents already in use.

Goal 

Put the right work in the right order so an inspector can open a folder, follow the day, and close it with confidence.

Gap Work at Coppa

What we reviewed 

We ran a document pass against Spokane practice and Washington retail code using Coppa’s shared materials. That set included process notes, draft sous vide tables, reduced oxygen packaging workflow descriptions, label drafts, existing logs, equipment specs, and the floor plan. From that desk review we locked sous vide endpoints and cooling paths, added in place seal checks and lot coding for reduced oxygen packaging with a shelf life note in the batch folder, and set curing math up front with weight loss tracking by lot. Calibration dates were pulled into a single schedule.

Why it mattered 

Sequencing the fixes on paper prevented rework and let inspection verify one step at a time against records already in use. Training matched the documents on the table, labels matched process, and the environmental monitoring route followed the product path shown in the plan. The result was a calm start with controls that read the same in the folder and on the line.

Coppa Hazard Analysis and Controls

Fit to Work 

The plan matches the actual work.

Sous Vide Controls 

Sections address growth and toxin risks by product type and set cooling and reheat paths that tie back to the tables with clear holds.

ROP Controls 

Sections set out seal checks by run, vacuum verification, oxygen readings where used, lot coding, shelf life support tied to process and product, and storage statements that match the record.

Curing Controls 

Sections show the calculations up front, the progression of weight loss by lot, and the targets used for water activity and pH where they apply.

Verification 

Sanitation verification sits next to an environmental monitoring route that covers coolers, curing space, and the packaging bench. Nothing invented. Nothing missing.

Coppa Records and Training

Daily Story 

Records tell the same story every day. Batch folders link formulation, process logs, seal checks, oxygen readings, and labels.

CCP Evidence 

Daily critical control point logs capture limits, misses, and corrective actions without guesswork.

Calibration 

Schedules cover probes, scales, the vacuum unit, and the oxygen meter.

Staffing 

Training and sign off are by role so a new hire can step into a station and know what good looks like.

Purpose 

The point is a line of sight from what was made to how it was made and who made it.

Flow and Equipment Placement at Coppa

Layout 

Physical flow carries a lot of the load. Raw prep sits apart from sous vide staging. Curing and drying live away from finished pack.

Placement 

Vacuum and cooling are placed to keep travel clean and to give inspection a clear view of what matters.

Route 

The environmental monitoring route follows the same logic. Walk the product path and sample where risk concentrates.

Readability 

The space is not flashy. It is readable.

What Changed on the Floor at Coppa

Acceptance 

The program is accepted in retail inspection, and reviews move faster.

Corrections 

When a limit is missed, the corrective action is clear and closed.

ROP Rhythm 

Reduced oxygen packaging runs daily with seal checks captured in place and shelf life support available without a scramble.

Curing Posture 

Cured items sit on measurable targets with a posture that is ready for questions.

Control 

Staff use monitoring and calibration data in real time. The work feels calmer because it is visible.

Notes from Coppa for Peers

Start Early 

Do the gap work before you touch the room.

No Templates 

A generic plan will not carry sous vide, reduced oxygen packaging, and curing.

Make Evidence 

Records with calibration and lot linkage give inspectors what they need and give your team trend data that changes decisions.

Design Choice 

Packaging and labeling are part of process control. Put the system on the table and let it speak.

Craft and compliance sit together at Coppa. The record now reads the same on the floor and in the folder.