Food creator partnerships vendor due diligence starts with six written checks

What to take away

Which checks belong on the shortlist?

Work through the list in order, because the later checks depend on what the earlier ones reveal about the vendor's record keeping.

Start with disclosure. The ASA's explanation of how advertising is regulated sets out the regulator's role, including influencer marketing. Ask the vendor to show a recent campaign where paid content was labelled clearly.

Second, data protection. If the vendor holds creator or customer contact lists, ask how consent was captured and how opt-outs are honoured. The ICO's direct marketing advice generator is a practical tool for checking your own approach before you sign anything.

How do you test platform mechanics?

Third, platform mechanics. If the partnership includes paid amplification, the vendor should explain targeting, formats and reporting. TikTok's own step-by-step guide to how its ads work is a sensible reference for the mechanics you are buying.

Fourth, pricing basis. Ask whether the fee covers a fixed deliverable count, a monthly retainer or performance. Get the basis in writing, with the currency and the period stated. A quote in a foreign currency needs the exchange rate and the date it was set recorded in the schedule.

What belongs in the contract?

Fifth, content rights. Establish who owns the footage, how long you can reuse it, and whether paid usage costs extra. Ask whether the creator may reuse the same footage elsewhere, since a rival operator could end up with material you paid for. Rights often outlive the campaign, so this line matters more than the headline fee.

Sixth, exit terms. Check notice periods, kill fees and what happens to live posts if the relationship ends early. A vendor unwilling to put notice terms in writing is a warning sign.

Before you compare quotes, it helps to read our food creator partnerships tools and supplier guide, which sets out the categories of provider you will meet.

Worked example with labelled figures

Take an illustrative restaurant group paying a vendor £1,200 a month for creator sourcing and campaign management. That is a labelled example, not a market rate.

The contract covers four creators a month, one post each. If the group later wants 12 months of paid usage on those posts, the vendor quotes an extra £600 per campaign, so the true monthly cost becomes £1,800.

If the group also runs £500 a month of paid amplification, the total is £2,300. The headline fee was less than half the real spend, which is why the pricing basis check comes before the deposit.

Ask the vendor to quote the usage rights and the amplification separately, so each line can be dropped if the budget tightens.

What evidence should you keep?

Keep a single folder per vendor: the disclosure example, the data protection answer, the platform plan, the pricing schedule, the rights terms and the exit clause. Date every document.

If a campaign is later challenged, that folder is your defence. It also makes renewal conversations quicker, because you can compare last year's terms with this year's quote. The food creator partnerships supplier comparison shows how providers build their fees, which is the part of a renewal quote most likely to move.

Common questions

How long should due diligence take?

For a small restaurant group, a week is usually enough if the vendor responds promptly. Slow responses are themselves useful information about how the partnership will run.

Do these checks apply to individual creators as well as agencies?

Yes. The same six checks apply whether you contract a single creator or a managed agency, though the paperwork is lighter for one person.

What if the vendor refuses to share disclosure examples?

Treat that as a fail on the first check. You can still work with them later if they supply the evidence, but do not pay a deposit first.