The essentials
Washington, at a glance
Apply for a WSDA cottage-food permit, complete food-safety training, obtain food worker cards and pass the home-kitchen inspection before producing or selling.
The permit costs $355 for two years and covers only your approved products. Annual gross sales are capped at $35,000. Sales must be directly to consumers and completed in person; shipping, mail order, wholesale, consignment and out-of-state sales are excluded.
- Training
The operator must complete food-safety training and hold a valid food worker card; everyone preparing or packaging food must hold a valid card.
View official sources (1)
- Chapter16-149 WAC Cottage Foods Washington Legislature
One step at a time
Your first 3 steps
Confirm the kitchen and products
Use the kitchen of your primary Washington residence.
A shed, separate outbuilding or communal residence is not an eligible home kitchen. Check local business and zoning requirements and obtain the required business license. Match each proposed product to WSDA’s allowed categories before buying packaging or promising a market menu.
Prepare the permit application
Use WSDA’s current application checklist, arrange food worker cards for everyone preparing or packaging food, and document your kitchen, storage, labels, water supply and operating arrangements.
Private-water users need the required current test result and ongoing annual testing. Read the application’s current instructions about recipes and public records before sending proprietary recipe material.
Pass inspection and sell the approved menu
Pay the nonrefundable permit fee and complete the inspection.
Wait for issuance before producing or selling. Keep your menu and labels aligned with the approved product listing; adding a product is an amendment decision, not simply a website edit. Display the permit wherever you sell and calendar its actual expiration date.
View official sources (1)
- Chapter16-149 WAC Cottage Foods Washington Legislature
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.
Bread, cookies, candies and fruit preserves
Check the conditionsEligible categories include specified non-refrigerated baked or fried goods, candies and standardized fruit jams, jellies, preserves and fruit butters.
Preserves require the prescribed cooking and processing approach; freezer jam and wax seals do not meet those rules. Being shelf stable is necessary but does not replace product approval.
Dry mixes and vinegar have specific boundaries
Check the conditionsApproved-source dry herb and seasoning mixes may qualify.
The rule also allows vinegar rebottled from an approved source, including permitted flavor additions. This does not establish permission to manufacture any fermented beverage or bottle any sauce. Check the precise product and process against the approved listing.
Refrigerated desserts and savory jars
Check the conditionsCream or custard fillings, cream-cheese products requiring refrigeration, dairy products, meat foods, canned vegetables, salsa, pickles, juices and garlic in oil are excluded.
A jar, vacuum seal or home refrigerator does not bring an excluded product into the cottage-food permit.
View official sources (1)
- Chapter16-149 WAC Cottage Foods Washington Legislature
From your kitchen to your customers
Where and how you can sell
| Selling method | What matters |
|---|---|
| Home and market direct sales | Arrange direct sales to the final consumer and display your permit at the sales location. Farmers markets, craft fairs and charity events are listed direct-sale settings. Your local business and zoning obligations still apply to the operation, including a proposed home-selling arrangement. |
| Internet listings | You may advertise products online, but the sale must be completed in person. Design the listing and customer communication around an eligible direct meeting. Do not present an online checkout with shipment as a permitted cottage-food channel. |
| Shipping and interstate sales | Washington’s cottage-food rule prohibits shipping, mail order and out-of-state sales. An approved product or valid permit does not remove those channel restrictions. Seek the appropriate licensed route before offering parcel delivery or accepting cross-border sales. |
| Retail shops and cafés | Wholesale and consignment are prohibited. A shop taking your cookies for resale is different from your own direct sale to a final consumer. The cottage permit therefore cannot support a standard café-supply or unattended consignment arrangement. |
View official sources (1)
- Chapter16-149 WAC Cottage Foods Washington Legislature
Your label, explained
Every field has a purpose.
Use the example to understand the structure. Follow the Washington requirements below for your product and sales route.
Your product
name
Your product name and actual net quantity
Your complete recipe and supplier ingredients
Business name; cottage-food permit 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.
Business name; cottage-food permit 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 cookie label fields
For an approved cookie, use the business name and cottage-food permit number, product name, actual ingredients including subingredients in descending order by weight, net quantity and required allergen information.
Include the exact statement below in contrasting type at least eleven points. The rule uses the permit number and does not list a home street address as a required cottage-food label field.
Required home-kitchen statement
Made in a Home Kitchen that has not been subject to standard inspection criteria.
Quantity and large cakes
Washington’s rule does not require metric measurements for cottage-food net quantity.
A large cake or bulk container does not automatically eliminate labeling: the department may allow an accompanying label sheet for specified situations, with protection from contamination. Obtain that allowance before relying on an alternative to the ordinary package label.
The wording for your label
Packaged cottage food · check product-specific additions
Made in a Home Kitchen that has not been subject to standard inspection criteria.
View official sources (1)
- Chapter16-149 WAC Cottage Foods Washington Legislature
A useful head start
Your Washington 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 cookie seller adds a new product
Suppose your permit lists two approved cookie recipes and you want to add fruit jam.
First check the allowed preserve category and processing conditions, then apply to amend your permitted products. Budget the applicable amendment fee and wait for approval. Your existing cookie permit, unused room beneath the sales cap and a shelf-stable test result do not by themselves approve the jam.
Confusing two years with no ongoing duties
A two-year permit does not remove food worker card, sanitation, recordkeeping or private-water testing obligations.
Keep records accessible and preserve them for six months after the permit expires. Submit the renewal and fee before expiration; a late application can require a production pause.
Counting profit instead of gross sales
The $35,000 limit concerns annual gross cottage-food sales.
Ingredient, booth and packaging expenses do not reduce that figure. Keep a combined sales log across your direct-sale locations and plan the appropriate food-processor licensing transition before exceeding the cap.
View official sources (1)
- Chapter16-149 WAC Cottage Foods Washington Legislature
A few more answers
Common questions
Can I change flavors without approval?
A permit can cover up to fifty master recipes with approved variations. That is not blanket approval for any new recipe or changed process. Compare the proposed variation with your actual permitted listing and ask WSDA whether an amendment is needed before selling it.
View sources for this answer (1)
- Chapter16-149 WAC Cottage Foods Washington Legislature
Can my children or pets be in the kitchen?
Pets and children under six must be excluded from the permitted operations as the rule requires. Keep household activities separate from cottage-food production, use sanitary handling and maintain designated storage. The application asks how you will control pets and young children.
View sources for this answer (1)
- Chapter16-149 WAC Cottage Foods Washington Legislature
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
Start with WSDA’s current permit checklist
Use the agency cottage-food page for application instructions, approved-product guidance and renewal or amendment forms. Confirm your product list, label design, inspection readiness and recipe-document handling before submitting. For a new channel or food outside the permit, ask WSDA which licensed program applies.
Official sources 1 references
- Chapter16-149 WAC Cottage Foods →
Washington Legislature · Reviewed September 14, 2026
Guide updates September 14, 2026
Reviewed Washington’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 (1)
- Chapter16-149 WAC Cottage Foods Washington Legislature
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.