How to write a food creator partnerships disclosure policy that holds up

What to take away

Decide who owns disclosure before any brief goes outthe restaurant, its agency or the food influencers themselves. Name that role in the document.
ASA and CAP advertising codes cover creator content, so a paid restaurant post must be identifiable as an ad.
Consumer protection law backs that up, through the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the Competition and Markets Authority.
Add a data sharing clause, because moving creator and customer data between brand, agency and creator engages UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Allow for admin time, since checking posts can be paid working time at national minimum wage rates.
A policy will not settle every edge case, so individual cases need a qualified adviser.

Who does your policy actually bind?

Start with scope. List the parties it covers: the restaurant brand, any agency, the creator, and any freelancer editing or scheduling content.

Then assign one accountable role. In a small restaurant group that may be the marketing lead. In a larger group it is usually a brand manager with sign-off from legal or finance.

Say what triggers disclosure. Payment, free meals, discounted meals, gifted vouchers and affiliate codes all count when the restaurant controls the message.

Disclosure trigger test

Did we pay, gift or otherwise incentivise this content?

Yes

Disclosure rules apply

No disclosure required

For the wider compliance picture, including how partnerships sit alongside advertising and consumer law, see the food creator partnerships UK rules and compliance guide.

What does the regulator expect to see?

The Advertising Standards Authority enforces the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing, better known as the CAP Code, and the Committee of Advertising Practice writes it. Section 2 of the CAP Code deals with recognition of marketing communications: rule 2.1 requires them to be obviously identifiable as such. The ASA's Influencer's Guide to making clear that ads are ads sets out what a clear label looks like in practice.

Advertising codes are not the only rule that applies. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 make misleading omissions unlawful, and a paid post that hides its commercial nature is a misleading omission. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 strengthened those rules and gives the Competition and Markets Authority powers to enforce them directly, while Trading Standards can act locally. A published ASA ruling, or action by the Competition and Markets Authority or Trading Standards, is the outcome a policy is trying to avoid, so name both regulators and the route for a complaint in the document.

Require disclosure upfront, not buried. A label such as "ad" belongs at the start of a caption, not after a block of hashtags.

Name the platforms you use and how each labels paid content. Instagram's paid partnership label, TikTok's branded content toggle and YouTube's paid promotion checkbox all do part of the job, but platform tools do not replace a clear written label such as "ad".

Set an approval step. Nobody posts restaurant content until the wording has been checked, and record who approved it.

How should you handle data sharing?

Creator partnerships move personal data around. A restaurant may share booking data with an agency, and the agency may share audience insights back.

That flow needs a lawful basis and a written agreement. The ICO's data sharing code of practice, issued under the Data Protection Act 2018, sets out what to document before data moves between organisations.

List what is shared, why, how long it is kept, and who deletes it at the end.

If a creator sends a spreadsheet of follower data, treat it as personal data and keep it under a retention rule.

For what must appear in a partnership agreement, the food creator partnerships UK regulations page sets out the main obligations.

What should the policy document actually contain?

Give the policy fixed sections so that everyone works from the same page. A structure that holds up looks like this:

Purpose and scope, naming the parties the policy binds.
Definitions of payment, gifting and control, with the disclosure triggers listed.
The labelling standard, including the wording and placement the restaurant accepts.
Platform rules, one line for each platform in use.
Approval workflow, naming who checks the content and who signs it off.
Data sharing, retention and deletion duties.
Records, including the approval log and hours worked on monitoring.
A named owner and a review date.
What happens when a post breaches the policy, for staff and for creators.

Do wage and invoice rules affect a disclosure policy?

They can. If the policy requires staff to monitor creator content outside normal hours, that time may need to be paid.

Minimum wage rates are set by government and updated each year. The official National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates page lists the current figures.

State that extra hours spent on partnership monitoring are recorded and paid at the correct rate. That one line prevents a common dispute.

Worked example

A restaurant group in Manchester runs four creator partnerships in a quarter. Each creator receives a £350 fee plus a meal worth £45 a head for two people, so £440 per partnership. Creator spend for the quarter is £1,760.

The group also pays a part-time coordinator £12.50 an hour for six hours a week on disclosure checks. That is £75 a week, or £975 across 13 weeks.

Total partnership cost for the quarter: £2,735. One post published without a clear ad label puts part of that spend behind content the group may have to take down.

Common questions

Does a free meal count as payment for disclosure purposes?

Usually yes, if the restaurant expected coverage in return. The test is whether the restaurant controlled or incentivised the content.

Who is responsible if a creator forgets to label a post?

The restaurant brand is normally accountable for advertising it commissions, even when a creator publishes it. Put the first check with the creator, the final check with the brand.

How often should the policy be reviewed?

At least once a year, and again when platform labelling tools or regulator guidance change. Add a named owner and review date.