Insurance for food manufacturers and delicatessen producers in Germany
A shard of glass in the jar, salmonella in the batch, an allergen missing from the label: in food production a small mistake quickly becomes a public recall. Add cold stores that fail and machines without which nothing gets filled. This page shows what to insure in Germany and what it costs.
Does my insurance pay if we have to recall a batch?
General liability pays if someone falls ill from your product or is injured by a foreign body. The cost of the recall itself, meaning informing retailers, return transport, destruction and retailers' flat fees per store, is only paid by recall insurance. If you supply supermarkets, you should have it.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
Germs in the batch
Listeria, salmonella or mould are often only found at the customer's end or in an official sample. By then the goods have been distributed.
02
Foreign bodies
Glass, metal, plastic from a broken machine part: a consumer's broken tooth is a classic liability claim.
03
Allergens and labels
Nuts, celery or gluten are missing from the label because the recipe changed. That almost always leads to a recall.
04
The cooling fails
A compressor breaks down at the weekend, and on Monday morning the cold store is warm. All the goods must be destroyed.
05
Fire in fryer and smokehouse
Fat fires, smoking plants and ovens are typical causes of fire, and the insulation in cold rooms burns quickly.
06
Wet floors and knives
Slips, cuts and cold: working in food production is physically hard.
If you deliver yourself with several refrigerated vehicles.
What it costs: example prices
Premiums depend on turnover, product group, delivery routes and the quality of your hygiene management. Meat, fish, dairy and delicatessen are seen as riskier than dry goods.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Business liability
Small artisan producer with five staff, regional sales
around €250 to €700 a year
Business liability
Manufacturer with 30 staff, supplying supermarkets
around €2,500 to €7,000 a year
Business liability
Recall cost block, €50 million turnover, €2 to €10 million cover
around €2,500 to €15,000 a year
Business contents
Equipment and goods worth €500,000
around €700 to €1,800 a year
Machinery breakdown
Refrigeration and filling with a new value of €300,000, including chilled goods
around €900 to €2,500 a year
For comparison: Liability and contents insurance for a small delicatessen producer cost roughly as much a year as 150 jars of your own pesto sold in the farm shop.
Guide figures excluding German insurance tax, as of September 2026.
General liability is based on published tariff examples for small craft and production businesses.
Recall cover is usually priced per mille of turnover;
contents and machinery are guide figures from our own quoting.
Six things that really happen to food manufacturers, all on one Friday. Tap through and see who pays.
Damage so far€620,300
The cold store is warm; the compressor failed overnight. 4 tonnes of goods have to be destroyed.
€26,000 · Paid by: Machinery breakdown
A consumer breaks a tooth on a shard of glass in a jar. Dentist and damages for pain and suffering.
€4,800 · Paid by: Business liability
The official sample shows listeria. Recall from 900 stores with retailers' flat fees and destruction.
€180,000 · Paid by: Business liability
The labelling system is encrypted, and for two days nothing can be shipped with traceability.
€22,000 · Paid by: Cyber insurance
The delivery van's refrigeration unit fails on the round and the goods can no longer be sold.
€7,500 · Paid by: Cargo insurance
A fat fire in the fryer spreads to the cold room insulation. Production and store are destroyed.
€380,000 · Paid by: Business contents
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €620,300
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Agree a recall cost block if you supply retailers, and make sure retailers' flat fees and recalls ordered by the authorities are included.
Insure chilled goods expressly against spoilage after a power cut or machinery breakdown, with a sum that matches a full store.
Choose at least €5 million for product liability; many supermarket chains write that sum into the supply contract.
Check that damage from allergens and labelling errors is included; some policies exclude label mistakes.
If you produce for other brands under contract, you need extended product liability for mixing and further processing losses.
In business interruption, also agree contingent losses, for example if your only packaging supplier burns down.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We look at recall and cooling
The two most expensive losses in the sector are missing from many standard policies. As a broker we obtain quotes from several insurers and compare exactly these blocks.
We know claims handling from the inside
In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves. We know which evidence counts after a recall and how to set out a claim properly.
From production to farm shop
Business, vehicles, market stall and your private cover all come together with one contact who can explain German policies in English.
A family business since 1989
Many food producers are family firms, and so are we. Our work is free for you; the insurer pays our commission.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Is product liability compulsory for food?
Not by law.
But under the German Product Liability Act you are liable without fault,
and retailers almost always ask for proof with a minimum sum.
What does recall insurance cost?
It is usually priced per mille of turnover.
For medium sized manufacturers,
premiums range from a few thousand to more than ten thousand euros a year depending on product and
sum insured.
Does contents insurance pay for spoiled goods after a power cut?
Only if chilled goods and spoilage from power failure are included.
A power cut on its own is not an insured event in many policies.
What does insurance cost for a small artisan producer?
Liability and contents start at around €500 a year.
With cooling, machinery and business interruption,
smaller firms usually pay between €2,500 and €7,000.
Am I covered if a customer has an allergic reaction?
After a labelling error, product liability pays for the harm to health unless allergens are
excluded.
Document the recipe and label of every batch.
Which Berufsgenossenschaft is responsible?
The BGN, the statutory accident insurer for food and hospitality.
Membership is compulsory as soon as you employ staff.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Food production
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