A little clarity for your kitchen business
State Cottage Food Law Guides
Every homemade business starts somewhere. Find your state’s rules for what you can sell, where you can sell it, and what belongs on your label.
Popular guides: TexasCaliforniaFloridaNew York
Find your place. Know your rules.
51 guides · 50 states + DC
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Planning where to sell
Compare selling rules
Choose two states to read their sales-channel guidance side by side. Permissions depend on the food, program and selling arrangement described. A state’s cottage-food rules do not automatically permit sales across state lines.
Alabama
Online orders and in-state delivery
Alabama allows direct sales by phone and online as well as in person. Delivery can be made by you, an agent acting for you, or by mail, provided the consumer is in Alabama. Build your ordering system around that destination restriction and make sure products retain their required labels when an agent handles the delivery.
Read conditions and sources →Markets and your own selling space
ADPH describes direct sales from venues that are not health-department-permitted food establishments, including certain tents, booths, carts and storefronts. The food must still be produced at home and sold directly to the consumer. For a state-sanctioned farmers market, check the Farmers Market Authority’s requirements as well as the cottage review.
Read conditions and sources →Restaurants and consignment
A restaurant cannot buy your cottage food to serve as its own permitted food operation, and a retail store cannot sell it on consignment under this direct-sale route. A delivery agent carrying your completed order is different from a shop reselling your inventory. If wholesale is the goal, ADPH identifies commercial manufacturing as a separate route.
Read conditions and sources →Alaska
Home, markets and agreed locations
The statute lists farmers markets, agricultural fairs, farms, ranches, the producer’s home or office, third-party retail locations and locations agreed between producer and buyer. The food must be for personal consumption and the sale within Alaska. Apply the correct producer-direct or eligible-agent rule to the actual food.
Read conditions and sources →A shop acting as your agent
An eligible retail shop can sell non-potentially hazardous food on your behalf under DEC’s agent arrangement. Ordinary wholesale, resale and consignment are not authorized by that description. DEC highly recommends a signed agreement explaining the agency relationship. Maintain the required label, sign and separate display.
Read conditions and sources →Online orders and shipping questions
DEC allows online sales, with the same food, seller and Alaska-only boundaries. Potentially hazardous food still must be sold by the producer. The reviewed guidance does not resolve every parcel-carrier arrangement; confirm the proposed delivery method with DEC before advertising shipping. Do not infer interstate permission from an online order or a carrier accepting a package.
Read conditions and sources →Restaurants and mixed premises
Homemade products cannot be used as ingredients in a permitted food establishment. A producer selling potentially hazardous homemade food in a retail space associated with inspected food faces additional physical-separation requirements, including a separate door and checkout. An ordinary shared display or restaurant counter is insufficient.
Read conditions and sources →More making. Less managing.
Your shop, orders, and customers. All in one place.