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California

Can a business I sell wholesale to ship my cookies in their gift baskets?

This topic contains 5 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by  David Crabill 7 years ago.

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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  • #14963

    Kathy Lieber
    Participant

    I have a class B permit and a wholesale customer would like to include my packaged & labeled cookies in their gift basket which they ship. Is this okay?

    #14967

    David Crabill
    Keymaster

    I’m not sure if there’s a definitive answer for this question yet. From what I’ve heard over time, it’s likely that although you can’t ship to the wholesaler (or any other customer), the wholesaler can sell your product by almost any means, including shipping it. It still doesn’t make sense to me why Class B CFOs cannot ship their products within the state. You will need to talk to your health dept for final clarification about what’s allowed in your county/city.

    #14976

    Kathy Lieber
    Participant

    Thanks for the quick response David. As far as the shipping restrictions ,for our direct sales, I agree! The Health Department has inspected my kitchen, as they would a commercial kitchen, and their roll is food safety….right? Not allowing us to ship and allowing a business with a commercial kitchen to is kind of a discrimination. Thier roll isn’t to allow regulations to the highest bidder. Is there something we can do to change this law?

    #15005

    David Crabill
    Keymaster

    I agree that it doesn’t make sense from a practical standpoint, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it discrimination. Although your kitchen has been inspected, a commercial kitchen has to adhere to hundreds of other requirements that your kitchen does not. I don’t think the shipping restriction stems from a food safety concern… rather, it’s a concern about the purpose of the cottage food law and the type and size of businesses that should be running with it.

    The only way to change the law would be to create a bill that would amend the law and pass it through the legislature in the next session (starting in a couple months). People like yourself can and do take the initiative to get these off the ground, and that’s the way most cottage food laws and amendments have been started. It takes a lot of time and effort, as well as finding a representative who will work with you. An amendment like this could allow shipping for all CFOs in CA.

    However, shipping restrictions are not actually built into the law. That recommendation came from the CDPH after the law was enacted, and local health depts have chosen to adopt their recommendation. It is actually possible for a county’s health dept to choose to allow shipping, since that’s not anywhere in the law.

    #37401

    Christian

    Hello David,

    You had mentioned in this thread that wholesalers could re-sell CFO products by almost any means. If I wholesale my product (roasted coffee) to a farmers market vendor, is he/she allowed to resell it without repackaging?

    Thank you in advance,
    Christian

    #37604

    David Crabill
    Keymaster

    Christian, if you are a Class B CFO, then you can sell to commercial businesses, and it is my understanding that they can sell your product by the same means that they sell their own. So assuming that the farmers market vendor is a commercial food business (and not simply a farmer that sells produce), then I would think that they could resell your product without repackaging.

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