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Florida

Selling Under the Cottage Food Law

This topic contains 15 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by  Cottage Oven 6 years, 4 months ago.

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  • June 12, 2014 at 12:12 pm #7041

    Peri

    Hello, I am considering starting a business under the Cottage Food Law. In selling items from my home, would I be allowed to deliver them to local residents and not sell solely at local farmer’s markets? Thank you, in advance, for your time and assistance.

    June 13, 2014 at 12:15 am #7105

    David Crabill
    Keymaster

    Yes, you can do any direct sales to customers.

    September 2, 2014 at 2:05 pm #12284

    Aimee Fundora
    Participant

    Hello! I’am starting my new cottage food business in Seminole County, Florida. I will be baking Bundt Cakes, cupcakes and muffins… Recently a lawyer office ask me if I can sell them a certain amount of muffins weekly so they can give them away as a gift for their clients. Can I do that?

    September 5, 2014 at 12:32 am #12476

    David Crabill
    Keymaster

    Aimee, I’m not entirely sure. This seems to fall into a gray area, because it’s neither an indirect sale nor a direct sale, really. My guess, which could be wrong, is that this would not be allowed because you are not selling to the end consumer. I’d recommend you call the state ag dept for official clarification.

    October 5, 2014 at 7:31 pm #13838

    Adrienn

    Hi David!
    I am considering starting a business under the Cottage Food Law. As I understand, if my product is in the allowed food category (which is oven baked cake) no license or permit is required. So I am allowed to bake the cake at home, put the label on it (under the standard) go to the Farmer’s Market and sell it directly to the customers. No license or permit needed. I just like to make sure, if I’ll do this, I won’t make anything which is against the Florida law or something. The location is Naples, Florida.
    About the product: It is a delicious dough made from scratch (all-purpose flour, instant yeast, sugar, salt, egg yolks, melted butter, milk) hand rolled onto a wooden pin, coated with sugar and baked in the oven then rolled into different toppings (chocolate, walnuts, coconut, cinnamon and more).

    Thank you for your answer!

    October 6, 2014 at 1:08 am #13839

    David Crabill
    Keymaster

    You don’t need a license from the health or ag depts, but your county still might require other licenses/permits, like a business license. And even if they don’t, the farmers market itself may require certain permits. Farmers markets also have the ability to turn you away because you’re homebased, even though you’re a legal business. So it could be as easy as you described, but you also might have to jump through a few hoops before you start selling, and you may not be able to sell at some locations without a commercial license.

    February 19, 2017 at 7:04 am #37508

    Taylor

    Hi there! I’m relatively new to Florida and have been looking into selling cupcakes, cakes, and/or cookies from home. I don’t know if this thread is still active but I figured it was worth a try…

    I did this in New York for a while and am trying to determine if this would work the same way. In NY, I was on a couple of online garage sale pages on Facebook, and if someone posted that they were looking for a cake, I would comment to see if I could help them out. Would I be able to do the same here in Seminole County, FL?

    Along those same lines, would I be able to post on similar pages that I am a home baker to see if anyone is in need of my services? Or would I be able to advertise a Facebook page to showcase previous baked goods that I have created?

    Thank you for your help!

    March 3, 2017 at 2:51 pm #37612

    David Crabill
    Keymaster

    Taylor, you can find business in any way you want, including using Facebook in a variety of ways. You can sell cakes as long as you follow all of the rules for Florida’s cottage food law: http://forrager.com/law/florida/

    May 1, 2017 at 5:28 pm #37996

    Kelly

    David,
    To be clear. As I understand it, I would be allowed to have a FB page and/or IG feed and even perhaps a website that showcases what I do. The part that I am uncertain about is can these internet options mentioned allow me to state that my cookies are for sale? If yes, am I allowed to state prices? And if yes, am I correct that from that point forward I am to ask an interested party to contact me so that we can have a face to face for discussing a potential sale. Am I allowed to place my contact info on said internet options?
    Thank you!

    May 12, 2017 at 1:03 pm #38086

    David Crabill
    Keymaster

    Kelly, you can do everything you asked about. Just make sure that you collect payment from a customer in-person.

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