Hi there,

As you might recall, 2024 was a strong year for the cottage food industry, and from the looks of it, 2025 is shaping up to be even better!

As you can see from my 2025 Cottage Food Bills map, 13 states have already introduced legislative bills to improve cottage food laws, and I know of at least 5 more states that will likely see legislative action as this year progresses.

Overall, we are seeing a continuation of the trend towards expanded cottage food and food freedom laws, and away from micro-restaurant laws.

So far, only 2 states (WA, MN) have introduced micro-restaurant bills, and they are copies of previous bills that failed. This marks the 5th straight year that Washington has tried to pass a micro-restaurant bill.

But when you think about it, food freedom bills are starting to become so expansive that they nearly replace the need for a micro-restaurant law. Iowa, Arizona, & Alaska now allow products that contain meat, and this year, Wyoming and Tennessee are looking to hop on that trend as well.

The bill I'm most excited about is Michigan's. Few states need a cottage food reform more than them. Michigan currently holds the unfortunate distinction of having the lowest sales limit in the nation ($25k/year). This bill would not only change that for everyone, it would have a first-of-its-kind special sales limit for producers with high-value products. (I'll share my thoughts on that later.) Michigan's bill would also allow online sales and in-state shipping, and provide a home address exemption on labels.

The other big bill this year is Texas, which comes as no surprise given the random undoing of their last bill. Texas' bill would double their sales limit, allow wholesale, allow perishable baked goods, and provide a home address exemption on labels. They also have a second bill which would require HOA's to allow cottage food businesses.

And speaking of that Texas email, here's what I wrote about the fact that they introduced 5 bills last time: "I'd want to see this strategy tried in at least one more state before writing it off as ineffective." Apparently New Hampshire was paying attention, because they too have introduced 5 cottage food bills in a single year. All of their bills are simple and change only one aspect of the law. The two most important bills would provide a home address exemption on labels, and would allow freeze dried foods. This is also the first time I've seen a bill propose putting QR codes on labels to save space.

Minnesota also has a significant cottage food bill this year. It would enable all direct sales, increase their sales limits (they have two), and allow shipping within the state. Minnesota is in a similar position to Texas: their last major bill attempt unexpectedly failed, and they have an exceptionally strong advocacy team.

There actually was one other very ambitious bill this year, so ambitious that it's already dead. And which state is it? Mississippi, of course. To be clear, I wouldn't have considered their bill all that ambitious if it was another state. But at this point, it's almost getting comical, just how stubborn their legislature is. This marks the 5th straight year that they have failed to pass a cottage food bill.

Oklahoma has a couple of bills this year. One would be pretty significant if it passed: it would remove the sales limit entirely and allow wholesale of perishable foods. Their other bill would quadruple their sales limit and allow unpasteurized milk to be sold.

And there's a few more bills that I haven't gotten to yet:

• North Dakota's bill would allow online sales and interstate shipping
• Maryland's bill would allow perishable baked goods
• Connecticut has a unique bill that would allow certain indirect sales within 20 miles of the producer's home
• South Dakota has a confusing bill, in that it would add requirements for indirect sales, but it doesn't change the part of the law that currently prohibits indirect sales (I imagine that will get sorted out if the bill moves forward)

So there you have it! I told you it's an impressive roundup, didn't I? 20 bills in total, 19 of which are still alive. And as I mentioned earlier, I expect to see at least a few more bills added to the list this year.

Check out the 2025 Cottage Food Bills Map


Forraging ahead,

David