Hi there,

Congrats to Michigan! This week, their much-needed new law went into effect.

Before I dig into their new law, a quick reminder that the last day to register for CottageFoodieCon is next Tuesday, March 31st. I hope to see you there!


Michigan's last law update was 14 years ago, back in 2012.

When they first created their law in 2010, they were at the forefront of the cottage food movement. But slowly over the years, they have drifted further and further behind, resulting in them having one of the worst cottage food laws in the nation.

Fortunately, last year's bill (HB 4122), which appeared to be dead in the water, came back to life at the last minute and passed.

Not only is their bill a major improvement, but it also has some unique elements that we haven't seen before.

Here's what the bill does:


1. Doubles the sales limit

Up until now, Michigan had the lowest sales limit in the nation at $25k/year. Now their limit is much more reasonable, at $50k/year. (it's still low though -- only 9 other states have a limit at $50k or below)

The new law also allows the ag department to increase their sales limit each year to keep up with inflation, but unfortunately it doesn't require them to do so. If history is any indication, in all likelihood the ag department won't prioritize these increases, given everything else that's on their plate.

Now Louisiana has the lowest sales limit in the nation at $30k/year.


2. Allows online sales, in-state shipping, and third-party delivery (with a catch)

Until now, Michigan was one of only 4 remaining states that prohibit online sales.

Their new law allows online sales, in-state shipping, and third-party delivery (e.g. Doordash, Grubhub, etc), but with a catch.

For these types of sales, the producer needs to give the consumer the opportunity to meet them face-to-face. It doesn't have to be an in-person meeting -- it can be a video call.

They are the first state to have a requirement like this. It's important to note that consumers don't need to meet the seller before buying; they only need to have the opportunity to meet them.

My guess is that most consumers won't bother scheduling a video call with a seller, so I don't expect this requirement to affect a cottage food producer much. But it's an interesting and unique element of their law.

There are now only 3 states left that don't allow online sales: Delaware, Mississippi, and Virginia. However, Virginia recently passed HB 402, which will allow online sales later this year! More on that in my next bill update.


3. Removes the home address label requirement

Ever since Justina's nightmare experience, more and more states have been eliminating the home address requirement on labels. Michigan becomes the 22nd state to do so.

In order to avoid putting their home address on labels, producers need to include their telephone number and registration number (one-time fee up to $50) instead.

Given that the law just went into effect two days ago, the registration system for this isn't up yet, but it looks like they are working on it and it should be available soon.

So it's not nearly as good as the many states that removed the home address requirement altogether, but it's certainly better than nothing!


4. Increases the sales limit for sellers with high-priced items

Michigan now actually has two sales limits. The $50k/year limit (mentioned above) applies to almost all producers.

But if someone sells products at $250/unit or higher, they can sell up to $75k/year.

This is the first time a state has allowed a higher limit based on the item's price.

As far as I can tell, in order to be eligible for the higher limit, the producer would need to sell ALL products at $250+.

The higher limit seems specifically tailored to wedding cake makers or specialty cake makers. I can't really think of any other cottage food business that consistently sells all of their products over the $250 mark.

Although the higher limit will apply to almost nobody, the concept behind having a higher limit is a decent one. The idea behind a sales limit is that if someone is making too much product from home, they will max out their kitchen capacity and it could cause food safety issues.

But if someone (like a wedding cake artist) spends a lot of their time decorating, they should be able to reach a sales cap much faster before maxing out their kitchen capacity. However, obviously wedding cake makers aren't the only ones who spend a lot of time decorating.

Custom sugar cookies, custom cake pops, and many other products are labor and skill intensive, and not as kitchen intensive. In my opinion, those types of businesses should be eligible for the higher sales limit too, but the law isn't written that way.

Of course, they best thing would be for Michigan to eliminate their sales limit all together, as 33 other states have done.

 
Overall, Michigan's new law bumps their status up on Forrager's law map from "poor" to "okay". It's not nearly as good as many of the cottage food and food freedom laws we are seeing today, but it is a massive improvement over what they had. I certainly hope they don't wait another 14 years to make another update!


There are actually some other bill updates since my last update email a month ago, but I think I've written enough for one email LOL. I'll save those for a future newsletter.

However, you can always check out the current status of bills on the 2026 Bill Map.


Forraging ahead,

David