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From cottage food to a commercial kitchen

Every state has a cottage food law with its own list of allowed products, a sales cap and labeling rules. Here is what changes when you outgrow it.

Get a plan and a priceSee the picks

The short answer

Cottage food laws usually cover shelf-stable products up to a sales cap. Selling across state lines, selling perishables or selling wholesale usually means a licensed kitchen.

What changes

  1. Check your state's cottage food law

    Every state has a cottage food law with its own list of allowed products (usually shelf-stable only), a sales cap, and labeling rules. Search your state's department of agriculture or health for the current version.

  2. Know when you need a licensed kitchen

    Selling across state lines, selling perishables, or selling wholesale usually means a licensed kitchen. Shared commercial kitchens rent by the hour; your state inspects the kitchen, you get the permit.

  3. Plan for the added paperwork

    The jump adds food safety plans, scheduled process filings for acidified foods (pickles, hot sauce, salsa) and a Better Process Control School certificate for the person in charge of those.

  4. Keep the records digital from day one

    It is much harder to go back.

Where to go next

  • Food label requirements

    What a packaged food label needs once you sell beyond the market table.

    Read the guide

  • Have the records set up for you

    Digital temperature and sanitation logs, a food safety plan fitted to your process and lot traceability.

    See the solution

Want one of these set up for you?

Tell us what you make. We send back a short plan and a price.

Get a plan and a price

How it works

  1. Tell us what you make

    What you make and what you use now. A spreadsheet and a Square account is a fine answer.

  2. Get a short plan

    Keep this, replace that, connect these, and the cost.

  3. We set it up

    Setup and migration done for you. You approve before anything goes live.

  4. Run it or hand it off

    Take it from there yourself or keep us on for the upkeep.

Questions

Can I sell cottage food across state lines?

Usually not. Selling across state lines, selling perishables or selling wholesale usually means a licensed kitchen.

What can I sell under a cottage food law?

Each state has its own list of allowed products, usually shelf-stable only, with a sales cap and labeling rules. Check your state's department of agriculture or health for the current version.

Do I need to build my own commercial kitchen?

No. Shared commercial kitchens rent by the hour. Your state inspects the kitchen and you get the permit.

What do acidified foods like hot sauce and pickles require?

Scheduled process filings and a Better Process Control School certificate for the person in charge of them.

Get a plan and a price

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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