The essentials
Oregon, at a glance
Oregon’s Cottage Food Exemption lets qualifying domestic-kitchen businesses sell listed non-refrigerated foods directly, online, by mail and through retailers that follow special conditions.
The current annual gross-sales ceiling is $52,700, effective March 13, 2026. Each person preparing the food needs food-handler training, and the business must follow sanitation, labeling and record rules. A qualifying business does not apply for the exemption itself; an optional privacy identifier is a separate application.
- Training
Every person involved in preparing cottage foods must complete a food-handler training program.
- Qualifying Oregon Cottage Food Exemption operation
View official sources (3)
- Oregon Cottage Food Exemption Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Cottage Food Exemption FAQ Oregon Department of Agriculture
- OAR 603-025-0320 final inflation adjustment Oregon Department of Agriculture
One step at a time
Your first 3 steps
Match the recipe to the list
Compare your actual finished product with ODA’s eligible categories and exclusions.
A shelf-stable food is not automatically on the list. Check purchased ingredients where a category requires commercial foods. For fruit jams, jellies and butters, the fruit’s natural acidity matters; acidifying a cucumber does not turn pickles into an eligible cottage food.
Prepare the kitchen and training
Complete food-handler training for everyone who prepares cottage foods.
Establish separate storage for business ingredients, containers and labels, and follow the household-activity and pet exclusions during production. Local zoning or other business requirements can still apply. ODA can inspect for public-health reasons or require testing when it questions whether a food needs temperature control.
Choose labels, sales records and renewal reminders
Prepare labels with the required notice, business phone, address option, ingredients, allergens and net quantity.
Decide whether to use your address or apply for the optional $25 UIN; the UIN expires June 30. Keep the required sales and compliance records for three years, including a running annual gross-sales calculation. Set a reminder before expiry if your labels use the identifier.
View official sources (3)
- Oregon Cottage Food Exemption Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Cottage Food Exemption FAQ Oregon Department of Agriculture
- OAR 603-025-0320 final inflation adjustment Oregon Department of Agriculture
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.
Familiar foods that can qualify
Check the conditionsEligible non-TCS baked goods, confectionery, popcorn and coffee beans are practical starting categories.
Dry tea or seasoning blends use commercial food under the listed category. Freeze-drying confectionery is allowed, while making your own freeze-dried fruit or meals is not the same permission as repackaging qualifying commercially sourced freeze-dried food.
Foods needing another route
Check the conditionsCheesecake, refrigerated cream pastries, meat-containing baked goods and bottled brewed tea are excluded from this exemption.
Pickles and pepper jelly also fail its natural-fruit-acidity boundary. Oregon’s Farm Direct and licensed domestic-kitchen programs have separate conditions; their permissions cannot simply be added to a cottage-food menu.
View official sources (2)
- Oregon Cottage Food Exemption Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Cottage Food Exemption FAQ Oregon Department of Agriculture
From your kitchen to your customers
Where and how you can sell
| Selling method | What matters |
|---|---|
| Home pickup and markets | Direct consumer sales may take place from the home, at markets and similar events. Keep the required label information with the food, and preserve the event-location and organizer information allowed by ODA’s event-record approach. |
| Online orders and direct delivery | Online direct consumer sales are allowed. Record purchaser address and contact information, product, quantity, price and the sale or shipment date. Choosing an online checkout does not replace the package information or annual gross-sales records. |
| Mail and interstate sales | ODA permits direct sales through the mail, but its exemption does not decide whether a destination state accepts the food. Check destination rules before offering interstate shipping. The Oregon UIN is not a federal address-label substitute, so a label acceptable for an Oregon sale may need a different approach for interstate commerce. |
| Retail shelves and wholesale | Retail resale is conditional: the product must be packaged and labeled; the retailer must agree to separate storage/display and additional homemade-food signage; you must keep the agreement. Restaurant, caterer and institutional sales remain prohibited, and another processor cannot use the product as an ingredient. |
View official sources (2)
- Oregon Cottage Food Exemption Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Cottage Food Exemption FAQ Oregon Department of Agriculture
Your label, explained
Every field has a purpose.
Use the example to understand the structure. Follow the Oregon requirements below for your product and sales route.
Your product
name
Your product name and actual net quantity
Your complete recipe and supplier ingredients
Operation or producer name; full business address (see state notes)
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.
Operation or producer name; full business address (see state notes)
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-cookie label
Assume a qualifying cookie, sold packaged in Oregon.
Identify the cookie, actual ingredients and subingredients by descending amount, relevant allergens, business name, business phone, eligible address or current UIN, and net quantity in US and metric units. Add the exact principal-label statement below. If a dog lives in the dwelling, disclose that species even when it never enters the kitchen during production.
Required principal-label statement
This product is homemade, is not prepared in an inspected food establishment, and must be stored and displayed separately if merchandised by a retailer.
Layout and unpackaged exceptions
Use legible, conspicuous type at least 1/16 inch in lowercase-o height; artwork cannot obscure the information.
A difficult-to-package direct-sale cake needs the required information on accompanying written documentation. A single-item market sale uses ODA’s prescribed placard and makes label information available on request. These exceptions do not permit unpackaged retail resale.
The wording for your label
Packaged cottage food · check product-specific additions
This product is homemade, is not prepared in an inspected food establishment, and must be stored and displayed separately if merchandised by a retailer.
View official sources (2)
- Oregon Cottage Food Exemption Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Cottage Food Exemption FAQ Oregon Department of Agriculture
A useful head start
Your Oregon 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
Adding a neighborhood grocer
Imagine an eligible cookie business with trained preparers and compliant labels.
A grocer offers shelf space. Before supplying it, obtain the retailer’s agreement to separate storage and display plus additional signage, and retain the agreement. Record that business’s address, contact, products, quantities, price and sale date. A neighboring restaurant’s request to use the cookies as a dessert ingredient is a different transaction and is outside the exemption.
Using last year’s dollar limit
The rule increased the annual gross-sales limit from $51,200 to $52,700 on March 13, 2026.
Use gross sales and aggregate the cottage-food business’s channels. Plan another source check for the next inflation adjustment rather than assuming this amount stays fixed forever.
Treating the UIN as permanent
The optional identifier expires June 30 and is personal to the applicant.
An expired or transferred number cannot simply stay on new labels. Use the current application and renewal instructions; this privacy option also does not settle federal or destination-state label requirements.
Hiding household pets
Oregon permits pets in the dwelling while excluding them from the kitchen during preparation.
The label must disclose their presence and species. Keeping a pet out of production does not remove that separate label requirement.
View official sources (3)
- Oregon Cottage Food Exemption Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Cottage Food Exemption FAQ Oregon Department of Agriculture
- OAR 603-025-0320 final inflation adjustment Oregon Department of Agriculture
A few more answers
Common questions
Do I need to register with ODA?
Not for the exemption itself if you meet its conditions. Everyone preparing foods still needs training, and ODA retains public-health oversight. Applying for a UIN is optional and separate; it costs $25 and is renewed around June 30.
View sources for this answer (2)
- Oregon Cottage Food Exemption Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Cottage Food Exemption FAQ Oregon Department of Agriculture
Can I sell online to another state?
Online and mailed direct sales are permitted by Oregon, but ODA says it cannot determine another state’s requirements. Verify the destination and federal labeling before offering that service. Do not assume a UIN-only address field works outside Oregon.
View sources for this answer (2)
- Oregon Cottage Food Exemption Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Cottage Food Exemption FAQ Oregon Department of Agriculture
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 the current ODA documents
The March 2026 guide and FAQ explain eligibility, training, label examples and sales records. For address privacy, use the official 2026–2027 UIN form, which expires June 30, 2027. Contact ODA Food Safety about an uncertain recipe or retailer arrangement before relying on the exemption.
Official sources 3 references
- Oregon Cottage Food Exemption →
Oregon Department of Agriculture · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Cottage Food Exemption FAQ →
Oregon Department of Agriculture · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- OAR 603-025-0320 final inflation adjustment →
Oregon Department of Agriculture · Reviewed September 14, 2026
Guide updates September 14, 2026
Reviewed Oregon’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)
- Oregon Cottage Food Exemption Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Cottage Food Exemption FAQ Oregon Department of Agriculture
- OAR 603-025-0320 final inflation adjustment Oregon Department of Agriculture
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.