Michelle Freese

Cut or processed fruits aren’t on the list, but unprocessed fruits are okay to sell. I don’t think there’s any way to operate a home business that sells chocolate-covered fresh fruit. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

1. You will likely need your DBA first, and the food handler training can come after applying, though it’s easy to do beforehand.

2. You must get approval from the property owner as the very first step. If they do not allow you to use your home for this business, you can’t use the cottage food law unless you move.

3) You need to pay yearly…[Read more]

It depends on what your county allows. Some counties will allow a variety of sweet fruit syrups, while others will only allow what is on the approved list.

No — you will need to use a commercial kitchen to start your business. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Yes, you just report it on your quarterly estimated and yearly taxes.

How do they know if you go over? They probably won’t. But, once you go over, you’re no longer operating legally, so if you got sued, you wouldn’t have any legal ground to stand on. The laws are there to protect you — once you leave their umbrella, you’re no longer…[Read more]

Although direct sales only require a Class A registration, that assumes that the direct sales will not occur in a retail facility, from what I’ve gathered. I guess the first question you need to address is whether your store is allowed to sell food items? There are specific requirements of what and how a retail facility may sell food, and you’ll…[Read more]

For a business this unique, you really need to speak with the health dept directly. Although there’s no substitute for that, I will clarify that the cottage food law in CA only allows dry coffee beans, not prepared coffee as you’re suggesting. The cottage food law also only allows your products to be made in your home kitchen, and nowhere else.…[Read more]

I’m pretty sure the statement has to be on the primary label. Only certain items, like ingredients, can go on the secondary label based on federal regulations. You should call your health dept and see what they’ll allow you to do.

All of the prep needs to happen in the commercial kitchen… you can’t use your home for production. Once you go through the process of becoming a commercial food processor, you can sell anywhere (assuming you have the appropriate permits to sell there).

You can do dry spices under the cottage food law and you can’t ship them. If you want to ship, you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Either the tea sellers are producing their tea in a commercial kitchen, or they are operating illegally. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You can’t sell it under the cottage food law… you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You can’t sell it under the cottage food law… you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

All of your products need to be packaged and labeled in your home, regardless of how they’re sold. The section of the law that you mentioned is intended for a restaurant that buys your product and then integrates it into their menu. Since your mom is appears to be a convenience store and not a food facility (which would have a commercial kitchen),…[Read more]

That’s great to hear, Krystle. Sometimes the health dept just doesn’t like the laws the way they are written. But it could also be that they thought they knew what they were talking about and didn’t want to admit that they were wrong. I’m glad they finally chose to allow it.