The essentials
Arizona, at a glance
Registered Arizona cottage-food preparers can make qualifying non-refrigerated and temperature-controlled foods, but the product determines how it can be sold and delivered.
Complete accredited food-handler training and obtain current registration before preparing food for sale. Keep sales and delivery within Arizona, package at home with complete labels and use the special transport restrictions for TCS, meat and poultry foods. The statute does not state a numeric cottage-food revenue cap; federal and product-specific restrictions still matter.
View official sources (3)
- ARS 36-931: Definitions Arizona Legislature
- ARS 36-932: Labeling, training, sale and delivery Arizona Legislature
- R9-8-101.02 Cottage Food Arizona Department of Health Services
One step at a time
Your first 3 steps
Identify the food and approved ingredients
Classify every finished recipe, including fillings and toppings, and list the sources of its ingredients.
Do not read the expanded program as permission for every meat, seafood or dairy recipe. Meat and poultry must fit the cited federal exemption or inspected-source route. Alcohol, unpasteurized milk and other excluded categories need careful review of their specific legal limits.
Complete training and registration
Use the ADHS program registration process with your active accredited food-handler certificate, kitchen details and description of foods.
Renew registration every three years and report changed information within 30 days. Keep the certificate available for display whenever selling away from the home kitchen, including a market booth. Check local zoning and building requirements for the property.
Set up packaging and fulfillment
Make and package the food at home in secure, fully enclosing packaging with a tamper-evident seal.
Add the required label and the same information prominently to online offers. For temperature-controlled foods, plan the actual destination, temperature maintenance and travel time, including traffic. Do not add a second selling stop after the first destination.
View official sources (4)
- ARS 36-931: Definitions Arizona Legislature
- ARS 36-932: Labeling, training, sale and delivery Arizona Legislature
- ARS 36-933: Applicability and enforcement Arizona Legislature
- R9-8-101.02 Cottage Food Arizona Department of Health Services
Make what you love
Can you sell what you make?
These are examples. Check the complete recipe, preparation method and sales route before offering a product.
Plain cookies versus refrigerated products
Check the conditionsAn eligible non-TCS cookie illustrates the simpler handling route.
A refrigerated dessert is not automatically excluded, but its recipe, ingredients and TCS handling must fit the program. A product that is dairy, or contains meat or poultry, also triggers the stricter preparer-sale and in-person delivery conditions. Confirm borderline classifications with ADHS before promising a delivery method.
Meat and poultry are conditional
Check the conditionsA meat-containing food is not approved merely because a cottage-food registration exists.
The statute ties eligible meat and poultry to federal exemptions and inspected sourcing, with a distinct exemption for qualifying producer-raised poultry. Keep the proposed food and sourcing method together when asking the agency. Marijuana ingredients remain prohibited.
View official sources (3)
- ARS 36-931: Definitions Arizona Legislature
- ARS 36-932: Labeling, training, sale and delivery Arizona Legislature
- R9-8-101.02 Cottage Food Arizona Department of Health Services
From your kitchen to your customers
Where and how you can sell
| Selling method | What matters |
|---|---|
| Home pickup | A qualifying direct handoff at the home can fit the program. The preparer must be registered, the food packaged and labeled, and ingredients and product handling appropriate to that food. Home pickup does not remove zoning obligations. |
| Markets and events | Display the registration certificate away from the home kitchen. TCS, meat or poultry products must meet the single-destination, two-hour transport and temperature conditions; remaining stock cannot be taken on to another public selling location under that route. |
| Online ordering | Online sales are possible, but the offer must prominently show the prescribed product and preparer information. Ordering and delivery are different questions: the special restrictions for dairy, TCS, meat or poultry still control fulfillment. |
| Delivery and shipping | Sales and delivery stay within Arizona. The statute permits specified agents or carriers for foods without dairy, meat or poultry, subject to the other restrictions. TCS, meat and poultry delivery must be in person, temperature controlled and within two hours to one destination; third-party delivery platforms cannot deliver those products. |
| Retail partners and wholesale | A qualifying third-party vendor must keep cottage foods on a separate section or display and post the required homemade-food sign. This is not a blanket wholesale permission for every product. Dairy, meat and poultry retain their special sales restrictions, and permitted retail food establishments cannot use cottage foods as ingredients in other foods they sell. |
View official sources (4)
- ARS 36-931: Definitions Arizona Legislature
- ARS 36-932: Labeling, training, sale and delivery Arizona Legislature
- ARS 36-933: Applicability and enforcement Arizona Legislature
- R9-8-101.02 Cottage Food Arizona Department of Health Services
Your label, explained
Every field has a purpose.
Use the example to understand the structure. Follow the Arizona requirements below for your product and sales route.
Your product
name
Your product name and actual net quantity
Your complete recipe and supplier ingredients
Registered preparer name; registration number
The statement for your state, product and sales route
Packaged cottage food · check product-specific additions
A guide to the fields, not a ready-to-print label. Use your actual product and business details.
Name it. Measure it.
Identify your product and its actual net quantity. Check the state’s formatting and unit requirements below.
Use your actual recipe.
Check every ingredient and supplier label. Use the applicable ingredient and allergen declarations for your product.
Identify your operation.
Registered preparer name; registration number
Use the wording for your route.
Requirements can differ by product and sales channel. Keep the disclosure, placement and type-size conditions together.
Illustrative packaged-product label
Assume an eligible product made in the registered home: identify your product, then show the registered preparer’s actual name and registration number, every ingredient and the production date.
Add the statutory home-kitchen warning and the consumer-information statement below. If the food comes from a covered developmental-disability facility, add that disclosure. Use a legible label and tamper-evident packaging.
Required home-kitchen warning
This product was produced in a home kitchen that may come in contact with common food allergens and pet allergens and is not subject to public health inspection.
Required consumer-information statement
To obtain additional information about cottage foods or to report a foodborne illness, go to azdhs.gov/Cottagefood
The wording for your label
Packaged cottage food · check product-specific additions
This product was produced in a home kitchen that may come in contact with common food allergens and pet allergens and is not subject to public health inspection.
To obtain additional information about cottage foods or to report a foodborne illness, go to azdhs.gov/Cottagefood
View official sources (1)
- R9-8-101.02 Cottage Food Arizona Department of Health Services
A useful head start
Your Arizona label kit.
Editable template, example label and starting checklist.
Personalize it for your products and business.
Enter your email. Get the files immediately.
Before your first sale
A few details worth getting right.
An example
A market order of a TCS food
Imagine a registered preparer bringing an otherwise eligible temperature-controlled food to one Arizona market.
The transport must preserve the appropriate temperature and take no longer than two hours, including traffic. The market is the initial destination; a second market is not an allowed fallback for leftover stock. Display registration, keep products sealed and labeled, and follow the product-specific seller and handoff conditions.
Confusing an order website with a delivery app
Remote ordering can be allowed while a third-party delivery platform is prohibited for the same product.
Decide how food will reach the consumer before adding a checkout or delivery option.
Counting only driving time
The TCS transport rule includes delays in traffic in the two-hour duration and limits the route to one destination.
A cooler alone does not remove the time and destination limits.
Forgetting the online label
The required information belongs prominently on online offers as well as on home-packaged food.
A registration number in a hidden profile field or a generic product photo does not explain ingredients and production information to the customer.
View official sources (2)
- ARS 36-932: Labeling, training, sale and delivery Arizona Legislature
- R9-8-101.02 Cottage Food Arizona Department of Health Services
A few more answers
Common questions
Is registration renewed annually?
The current cottage-food rule says registration renews every three years. Maintain the separate food-handler certification as active under its requirements, and report application-information changes within 30 calendar days. Do not wait for renewal to correct the kitchen or product information.
View sources for this answer (2)
- ARS 36-932: Labeling, training, sale and delivery Arizona Legislature
- R9-8-101.02 Cottage Food Arizona Department of Health Services
Can I send orders out of state?
No under this Arizona program: the rule limits offers, sales and delivery to Arizona. A carrier permission for qualifying products does not remove that state boundary.
View sources for this answer (2)
- ARS 36-932: Labeling, training, sale and delivery Arizona Legislature
- R9-8-101.02 Cottage Food Arizona Department of Health Services
Keep it handy
Your first-sale checklist
Use this free checklist to keep track of your next steps. The conditions in this guide still apply.
0 of 3 completed · Restoring progress…
Official guidance
Sources, updates & your next step
Use ADHS registration and food guidance
Start with the official Cottage Food Program registration, accredited-training and approved-food guidance. Present the full recipe, ingredients and proposed delivery method when resolving a special process or borderline food. Follow the current application for any fee information rather than assuming a universal startup price from the statutory exemption.
Official sources 4 references
- ARS 36-931: Definitions →
Arizona Legislature · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- ARS 36-932: Labeling, training, sale and delivery →
Arizona Legislature · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- ARS 36-933: Applicability and enforcement →
Arizona Legislature · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- R9-8-101.02 Cottage Food →
Arizona Department of Health Services · Reviewed September 14, 2026
Guide updates September 14, 2026
Reviewed Arizona’s product eligibility, sales routes, starting requirements and label guidance against the official sources below. Current conditions and any dated changes are explained in the relevant sections of this guide.
View sources for this update (3)
- ARS 36-931: Definitions Arizona Legislature
- ARS 36-932: Labeling, training, sale and delivery Arizona Legislature
- R9-8-101.02 Cottage Food Arizona Department of Health Services
This guide is a starting point. Confirm requirements for your products and location with the relevant authority. Examples are illustrative and are not a compliance approval.