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Cottage food by state

North Carolina cottage food law: what you can sell and how

North Carolina does not issue a cottage food permit. Instead the Department of Agriculture inspects your home kitchen before you sell, and then you can sell to consumers, stores and restaurants.

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Updated November 2026 by the Madeline's team, who set these tools up for makers and farms.

The short version

Apply to the NCDA&CS home processor program and pass a home kitchen inspection before you sell. Shelf-stable foods qualify, including acidified foods like pickles with testing and training. Pets in the home disqualify you. After inspection you can sell to consumers, retail stores and restaurants.

North Carolina rules at a glance

  1. Who regulates

    NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Food and Drug Protection Division.

  2. Inspection

    Your home kitchen must be inspected before you sell. No permit is issued; you receive the inspection report and a Notice of Inspection.

  3. Allowed foods

    Baked goods that need no refrigeration, jams, jellies and preserves, candies, dry mixes and spices, some shelf-stable liquids and sauces, acid and acidified foods, and freeze-dried candies.

  4. Not allowed

    Refrigerated or frozen products, low-acid canned foods, dairy, seafood, bottled water and juice, and baked goods with cream or cream cheese fillings.

  5. Testing

    Acidified foods, sauces and some moist baked goods may need pH or water activity testing and a process authority letter; acidified foods may need an acidified foods course.

  6. Pets

    Pets in the home at any time disqualify a home kitchen.

  7. Where you can sell

    The program covers selling to retail stores, restaurants and directly to consumers. Production must be in the home kitchen, not a garage or outbuilding.

Check the source

  • Official source

    NCDA&CS Food and Drug Protection: Home Processor

    Rules change. Confirm the current figures and forms with the state before you start selling.

    Open the official page

  • Cottage food to commercial kitchen

    What changes when you outgrow the limits.

    Read the guide

  • Free tool

    Cost per jar calculator

    Price your cottage food products from what they really cost.

    Use the calculator

  • Food label requirements

    What a packaged food label needs, including allergens.

    Read the guide

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Questions

Does North Carolina have a cottage food law?

North Carolina uses a home processor program: your home kitchen is inspected by NCDA&CS before you sell.

Can I sell pickles from home in North Carolina?

Acidified foods can qualify with product testing and, in many cases, an acidified foods course.

Can I have pets?

No. Pets in the home at any time disqualify a home kitchen from the program.

Can I sell to stores?

Yes. The program covers sales to retail stores, restaurants and consumers.

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Tell us what you make and what you use today. A spreadsheet and a Square account is a fine answer. We reply by email with what we would keep, what we would change and what it costs.

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