Dennis Theile

You may be able to do that, as long as your property is in an area that is zoned to allow roadside stands. Try to find the dept that manages planning/zoning and contact them about it. You may also need to discuss it with the health dept.

The map links to the law page for NY: http://forrager.com/law/new-york/

That page gives a fairly detailed overview of the law and should answer many of your questions. You cannot start an online business from your home kitchen, and if you wanted to start a CFO, you would need to get registered by the ag dept. To start an online food business,…[Read more]

Unless you are buying and reselling commercially made a pre-packaged fondant toppers, I don’t think this would be allowed. I’m pretty sure you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You can buy premade items and use them, as long as those items would be allowed if you made them. For instance, if Colorado doesn’t allow frostings that contain dairy, then you couldn’t use a commercially-produced frosting that contains dairy, even if it doesn’t require refrigeration. At least that is my understanding… perhaps the health dept…[Read more]

Your state of Colorado is the only one that has this product-based sales limit.

From my understanding, it’s actually pretty broad, and I think that, at the very least, different flavors of cake would be considered different products. I also think that a chocolate cake and a chocolate cupcake would be considered separate products, but I’m not sure…[Read more]

You’re not going to be able to merge a CFO with a commercial operation. Since your friend has a commercial kitchen, I’d recommend skipping the cottage food law and getting certified as a regular food operation. But it’s sometimes a good idea to deal with the limitations of the cottage food law for the short term until you prove your business concept.

It depends, but I think in most cases, it’s a good idea. Or put the prices on your website and link to that from Facebook. It’s not always possible to have fixed prices on certain items, but if you have specific rates, you might as well be transparent about that. For the price-sensitive customer, they’ll appreciate it, and for others, it will (at…[Read more]

Alex, it depends on where you live, but many states will not allow ganache, since it contains cream.

No — you need to produce it in a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial