Overview
Feeding the Future from Field to Fork
In today’s fast-moving agribusiness, food, and beverage industries, innovation and risk go hand in hand. From shifting consumer preferences and sustainability pressures to regulatory complexity and recall readiness, you face challenges that demand more than just knowledge. Our attorneys bring practical insight and proactive strategies that align with your goals to protect your legacy and prepare you for the future.
Best Law Firms
Recognized by Best Law Firms for our work in Agribusiness and Food & Beverage Law
Our Approach: Guiding Leaders Through What’s Next
As a leader in the agriculture, food, and beverage industries, you’re not just managing markets, you’re navigating a complex landscape of legal, regulatory, and public scrutiny. At Michael Best, we’re here to simplify that complexity and help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
Our process is built to support your growth at every stage, with practical guidance, transparent communication, and a deep understanding of the challenges you face.
- Strategic Kickoff: We begin with a collaborative strategy session to understand your goals, risk profile, and operational realities. This helps us align with your business goals from day one.
- Regulatory Assessment & Planning: Our team conducts a thorough review of your regulatory landscape, identifying compliance gaps, labeling risks, and FSMA-readiness needs. With deep experience across FDA, USDA, FTC, and state-level regulations, we deliver a tailored roadmap with clear milestones and responsibilities.
- Structure & Preparation: From supply chain agreements and co-packing contracts to IP protection and crisis planning, we help structure your operations to support growth and reduce risk. You’ll always know where things stand—with transparent budgets, regular updates, and open communication.
- Continued Support: We stay engaged beyond the initial matter—offering ongoing compliance monitoring, training, and post-project debriefs to help you adapt to change and stay ahead of emerging challenges.
Focus Areas
Get the legal guidance you need to protect your operations, manage risk and stay compliant. In today’s complex legal landscape, you deserve a partner who knows your concerns because they have lived them. Our team knows what it takes to grow crops and raise livestock under constantly changing environmental regulations, land use laws, and food safety standards.
Navigate the operational and regulatory aspects of your business so you can focus on perfecting your craft and bringing new products to the market. We share your enthusiasm because we are also home brewers, wine connoisseurs, and purveyors of craft distilleries. Our connections to industry groups and trade associations help you remain competitive and compliant in the ever-changing market.
In the fast-paced cannabis and hemp industries, success demands strategic, multidisciplinary legal support. We partner with cultivators, dispensaries, investors, and innovators to deliver seamless legal counsel across licensing, corporate, IP, labor, banking, and regulatory matters
Your focus is on bringing together producers to strengthen market access and share resources. Our focus is on helping you structure your governance, manage member relations, and comply with antitrust and tax laws. With Michael Best, you can get back to spending your time supporting your mission in today’s forever-changing agricultural and dairy landscape.
As a dairy farmer, you face unique regulatory scrutiny, from animal welfare standards to environmental compliance and milk pricing structures. Our Food and Beverage team understands the intricacies of dairy operations and can provide you with the counsel you need to navigate USDA regulations, labor issues, expanding, or developing your facilities.
A successful food chain needs storage, transportation, and delivery to be working on the same page. Our attorneys assist logistics providers in understanding and implementing new strategies based on transportation regulations, liability concerns, and breakdowns or contamination events. We can help you maintain compliance and minimize disruptions across your network.
The best food demands the best ingredients. If your work involves supplying additives, flavorings, and or raw ingredients, you know how vital it is for your food to be protected. Get legal counsel to protect your intellectual property, help you negotiate contracts, and achieve regulatory approvals.
Supplying the tools and materials that keep food production running smoothly requires attention to product liability, safety standards, and intellectual property. Our attorneys will work with you to draft strong contracts, defend against claims, and ensure compliance with industry regulations—helping you deliver reliable solutions to your customers.
From meat packers to beverage bottlers, processors and manufacturers are at the heart of transforming raw materials into consumer-ready products. Our attorneys bring deep experience in regulatory compliance, labeling laws, and food safety protocols, including FSMA. We’ll help you navigate inspections, manage recalls, and mitigate litigation risks to ensure your production stays efficient, compliant, and resilient.
Grocery stores, restaurants, breweries, and bakeries face constant pressure to meet consumer expectations while complying with health and safety regulations. Our team supports retailers and foodservice operators with legal counsel on employment matters, advertising claims, franchising, and crisis management. We help you stay ahead of trends and protect your brand in a competitive marketplace.
Experience
Serving Up Excellence
McCain Foods
When McCain Foods makes an acquisition in the U.S., they rely on Michael Best’s Food & Beverage team to navigate the complex regulatory landscape of food-processing facility acquisitions. Our team excels in swiftly ensuring compliance with intricate environmental and food safety regulations—often enabling facilities to go live within days. This uncommon proficiency allows our clients to transition facilities seamlessly and confidently, minimizing downtime and maximizing operational readiness.
FDA Labeling
Within 24 hours of passage of federal legislation requiring the disclosure of genetically modified organisms on food labels, Michael Best attorney received a call from a nervous client, asking her to help explain what the bill’s requirements would mean for food makers. That happens a lot for members of our Food & Beverage team, which has built a reputation for responsive, product-specific counsel to food companies. Today that ability is particularly valuable on issues of labeling, which have taken on immense importance amid increasing legal and regulatory risks associated with the language on food packaging.
