Hi there,

First off, this past week was special for us because Ray started walking last week, and we celebrated his 1st birthday yesterday. He is growing so fast!

I wanted to give a quick shout out to Ela, who has run Ela's Sweet Treats since 2013 and made Ray's 1st birthday cake. Not only did it look great, but it tasted amazing too! Ela has found a strong niche with image cakes and cookies, and her business is thriving.


On the cottage food news front, a baker in Nebraska is suing her city for requiring her to buy a permit to run her business. This lawsuit is another initiative supported by the Institute for Justice.

Nebraska created a good cottage food law last year, which requires most cottage food businesses to take a food safety course and register (for free) with the state ag department.

But the city of Lincoln decided that they knew better than the state, so they created more regulations which require kitchen inspections and impose a (NOT for free) permit.

Learn more about Cindy's case against Lincoln, Nebraska


On the podcast front, I just published a new episode with Kevin Martino, who runs Chef Kev's Specialty Foods in Concord, CA.

Kevin was one of the first cottage food businesses I ever met. Way back when CA enacted their law in 2013, many of the Bay Area's first cottage food businesses sold at a new Cottage Food Market in Berkeley.

That's where I first met Kevin, and now his spicy peanuts are sold in many breweries and hardware stores, as well as online. He shared what he's learned over the years, and I even provided some insight on why his new LLC might not be worth the investment.

Listen to Episode 9: Selling Spicy Peanuts in Breweries with Kevin Martino


Until next week,
David