diff --git a/docs/settings-manager.md b/docs/settings-manager.md
index 94f8449..eb7af2a 100644
--- a/docs/settings-manager.md
+++ b/docs/settings-manager.md
@@ -66,3 +66,19 @@ const settings = new MetadataManager({
   mutateMetadata: (md) => mutateMetadata(client, md),
 });
 ```
+
+# EncryptedMetadataManager
+
+This manager encrypts add the layer of encryption for all the stored data.
+To operate correctly, the encryption key needs to be passed to the constructor:
+
+```ts
+new EncryptedMetadataManager({
+  encryptionKey: process.env.SECRET_KEY, // secrets should be saved in the environment variables, never in the source code
+  fetchMetadata: () => fetchAllMetadata(client),
+  mutateMetadata: (metadata) => mutateMetadata(client, metadata),
+});
+```
+
+> **Warning**
+> If encryption key won't be passed, the application will exit.
diff --git a/src/settings-manager/encrypted-metadata-manager.test.ts b/src/settings-manager/encrypted-metadata-manager.test.ts
index 32a198f..1694463 100644
--- a/src/settings-manager/encrypted-metadata-manager.test.ts
+++ b/src/settings-manager/encrypted-metadata-manager.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 
 import {
   DecryptCallback,
@@ -19,66 +19,109 @@ const entryForDomainY = { key: "a__y.com", value: "domain y value" };
 const metadata = [initialEntry, entryForDomainX, entryForDomainY, encryptedEntry];
 
 describe("settings-manager", () => {
-  describe("metadata-manager", () => {
-    const fetchMock = vi.fn(async () => metadata);
-    const mutateMock = vi.fn(async (md: MetadataEntry[]) => [...metadata, ...md]);
-    const manager = new EncryptedMetadataManager({
-      fetchMetadata: fetchMock,
-      mutateMetadata: mutateMock,
-      encryptionKey: "key",
+  describe("encrypted-metadata-manager", () => {
+    describe("Constructor", () => {
+      const initialEnv = { ...process.env };
+
+      afterEach(() => {
+        process.env = { ...initialEnv };
+        vi.resetModules();
+      });
+
+      it("Process exit should be called when no encryption key is set if the environment type is production", async () => {
+        // @ts-expect-error
+        process.env.NODE_ENV = "production";
+        const fetchMock = vi.fn(async () => metadata);
+        const mutateMock = vi.fn(async (md: MetadataEntry[]) => [...metadata, ...md]);
+        expect(
+          () =>
+            new EncryptedMetadataManager({
+              fetchMetadata: fetchMock,
+              mutateMetadata: mutateMock,
+              // @ts-expect-error
+              encryptionKey: undefined,
+            })
+        ).toThrowError(
+          "Encryption key for the EncryptedMetadataManager has not been set. Setting it for the production environments is necessary. You can find more in the documentation: https://github.com/saleor/saleor-app-sdk/blob/main/docs/settings-manager.md"
+        );
+      });
+
+      it("If env type is different than production (development/test) use placeholder value", async () => {
+        const fetchMock = vi.fn(async () => metadata);
+        const mutateMock = vi.fn(async (md: MetadataEntry[]) => [...metadata, ...md]);
+        const manager = new EncryptedMetadataManager({
+          fetchMetadata: fetchMock,
+          mutateMetadata: mutateMock,
+          // @ts-expect-error
+          encryptionKey: undefined,
+        });
+
+        // @ts-expect-error
+        expect(manager.encryptionKey).toBe("CHANGE_ME");
+      });
     });
 
-    beforeEach(() => {
-      vi.restoreAllMocks();
-    });
-
-    it("Set encrypted value in the metadata", async () => {
-      const newEntry = { key: "new", value: "new value" };
-
-      await manager.set(newEntry);
-      const mutateValue = mutateMock.mock.lastCall![0][0].value;
-
-      // Encrypted value should be encrypted, alphanumeric value and different than input
-      expect(mutateValue).toMatch(/^[\d\w]+$/);
-      expect(mutateValue).not.toEqual(newEntry.key);
-      // Set method should populate cache with updated values, so fetch is never called
-      expect(fetchMock).toBeCalledTimes(0);
-    });
-
-    it("Get encrypted data from metadata", async () => {
-      const value = await manager.get(encryptedEntry.key);
-      expect(value).toMatch("new value");
-      // make sure encrypted metadata is different than decrypted value
-      expect(value).not.toEqual(encryptedEntry.value);
-      expect(fetchMock).toBeCalledTimes(0);
-    });
-
-    it("Use custom encryption callbacks", async () => {
-      const newEntry = { key: "new", value: "new value" };
-
-      // dummy encryption - join value and string together
-      const customEncrypt: EncryptCallback = (value, secret) => value + secret;
-      // dummy decryption - remove secret from end of the "encrypted" value
-      const customDecrypt: DecryptCallback = (value, secret) =>
-        value.substr(0, value.length - secret.length);
-
-      const customManager = new EncryptedMetadataManager({
+    describe("Manager operations", () => {
+      const fetchMock = vi.fn(async () => metadata);
+      const mutateMock = vi.fn(async (md: MetadataEntry[]) => [...metadata, ...md]);
+      const manager = new EncryptedMetadataManager({
         fetchMetadata: fetchMock,
         mutateMetadata: mutateMock,
         encryptionKey: "key",
-        encryptionMethod: customEncrypt,
-        decryptionMethod: customDecrypt,
       });
 
-      await customManager.set(newEntry);
-      // value send to the API should be encrypted with custom method
-      const mutateValue = mutateMock.mock.lastCall![0][0].value;
-      expect(mutateValue).toMatch("new valuekey");
+      beforeEach(() => {
+        vi.restoreAllMocks();
+      });
 
-      // value from get should be "decrypted" using custom method
-      expect(await customManager.get(newEntry.key)).toMatch("new value");
-      // Set method should populate cache with updated values, so fetch is never called
-      expect(fetchMock).toBeCalledTimes(0);
+      it("Set encrypted value in the metadata", async () => {
+        const newEntry = { key: "new", value: "new value" };
+
+        await manager.set(newEntry);
+        const mutateValue = mutateMock.mock.lastCall![0][0].value;
+
+        // Encrypted value should be encrypted, alphanumeric value and different than input
+        expect(mutateValue).toMatch(/^[\d\w]+$/);
+        expect(mutateValue).not.toEqual(newEntry.key);
+        // Set method should populate cache with updated values, so fetch is never called
+        expect(fetchMock).toBeCalledTimes(0);
+      });
+
+      it("Get encrypted data from metadata", async () => {
+        const value = await manager.get(encryptedEntry.key);
+        expect(value).toMatch("new value");
+        // make sure encrypted metadata is different than decrypted value
+        expect(value).not.toEqual(encryptedEntry.value);
+        expect(fetchMock).toBeCalledTimes(0);
+      });
+
+      it("Use custom encryption callbacks", async () => {
+        const newEntry = { key: "new", value: "new value" };
+
+        // dummy encryption - join value and string together
+        const customEncrypt: EncryptCallback = (value, secret) => value + secret;
+        // dummy decryption - remove secret from end of the "encrypted" value
+        const customDecrypt: DecryptCallback = (value, secret) =>
+          value.substr(0, value.length - secret.length);
+
+        const customManager = new EncryptedMetadataManager({
+          fetchMetadata: fetchMock,
+          mutateMetadata: mutateMock,
+          encryptionKey: "key",
+          encryptionMethod: customEncrypt,
+          decryptionMethod: customDecrypt,
+        });
+
+        await customManager.set(newEntry);
+        // value send to the API should be encrypted with custom method
+        const mutateValue = mutateMock.mock.lastCall![0][0].value;
+        expect(mutateValue).toMatch("new valuekey");
+
+        // value from get should be "decrypted" using custom method
+        expect(await customManager.get(newEntry.key)).toMatch("new value");
+        // Set method should populate cache with updated values, so fetch is never called
+        expect(fetchMock).toBeCalledTimes(0);
+      });
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/settings-manager/encrypted-metadata-manager.ts b/src/settings-manager/encrypted-metadata-manager.ts
index 9166ede..e914627 100644
--- a/src/settings-manager/encrypted-metadata-manager.ts
+++ b/src/settings-manager/encrypted-metadata-manager.ts
@@ -71,7 +71,22 @@ export class EncryptedMetadataManager implements SettingsManager {
       fetchMetadata,
       mutateMetadata,
     });
-    this.encryptionKey = encryptionKey;
+    if (encryptionKey) {
+      this.encryptionKey = encryptionKey;
+    } else {
+      console.warn("Encrypted Metadata Manager secret key has not been set.");
+      if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "production") {
+        console.error("Can't start the application without the secret key.");
+        throw new Error(
+          "Encryption key for the EncryptedMetadataManager has not been set. Setting it for the production environments is necessary. You can find more in the documentation: https://github.com/saleor/saleor-app-sdk/blob/main/docs/settings-manager.md"
+        );
+      }
+      console.warn(
+        "WARNING: Encrypted Metadata Manager encryption key has not been set. For production deployments, it need's to be set"
+      );
+      console.warn("Using placeholder value for the development.");
+      this.encryptionKey = "CHANGE_ME";
+    }
     this.encryptionMethod = encryptionMethod || encrypt;
     this.decryptionMethod = decryptionMethod || decrypt;
   }