Dennis Theile

I was just “thinking out loud”.

I’m sure it wouldn’t be approved in this situation as packages of ingredients would have to be opened, combined, re-packaged and transported to a location other than a farmer’s market or roadside stand. However (thinking out loud again…) could homemade pancake & waffle mixes be sold at a farmer’s market? Also…[Read more]

The cottage food law in Indiana is specifically designed for people who are selling items that are fully-prepared, packaged, and labeled in their home. Those items can only be sold at farmers markets and roadside stands, and that’s the only way I know of to personally profit from homemade food. I’m not sure about the rules for personal chefs, but…[Read more]

The inclusion of meat, potatoes, or vegetables disqualifies you from being a CFO. I haven’t found that people are resistant to buying from a home-prepared item, but you don’t have to worry about it because you’re forced to use a commercial kitchen to stay legal.

No — not if you plan on making them at home. You need to make them in a commercial kitchen and get a commercial license: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You cannot do that using the cottage food law. If you are only selling commercially-prepackaged cookies and drinks, then there may be a special permit for that. Otherwise, you would need to use a commercial kitchen to run this business. You should contact your health dept for more specific info. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You wouldn’t be able to make the cupcakes in your home kitchen to sell in this way. Instead, you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

As you know, to sell in restaurants you can’t operate under the cottage food law. You should need a commercial food processor license, which requires you to use a commercial kitchen. Many large churches have kitchens that are inspected by the health dept, but you will need to check to make sure your church has a commercial kitchen. You need to…[Read more]

The dept that manages zoning in your area will likely determine whether a farm stand is allowed where you live. You should also check with the ag dept to see if they have a requirement for what a farm stand needs to be (for instance, it might need to primarily sell produce). Sometimes the requirements for this are county-dependent.