Melissa Fisher

The letter of the law is that pets cannot ever be anywhere in the building where production is taking place, regardless of where the pets have access. I’ve not sure if your health dept would overlook that or not.

To make even $1 of profit, you need to follow the cottage food law described on this site. That will entail talking to the health dept, registering, submitting labels, etc.
http://forrager.com/law/california/

No, deep fried foods aren’t allowed at all, whether they’re fried on or off site.

Sorry, you can’t sell homemade salsa in CA. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

That’s correct — salsa is not allowed.

I did research on it awhile ago, and I recall experts saying that having an LLC doesn’t completely eliminate the owner’s liability. I’m not sure what that refers to, however. I know that an LLC protects the owners much more than a DBA, but the bigger question is whether or not protection is really necessary. If you follow all of the rules, on what…[Read more]

You can’t do that with your home kitchen: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Yes you can

I’m not sure if they would be legal, though I’d like to know the answer to that question. My guess is that they are not, because everyone I know that is required to put nutrition info on their label has sent a sample into a lab. The calculators are still pretty accurate and are good for quickly determining the approximate nutrition facts for a recipe.

You need whatever the farmers market requires. I don’t know how to get a sales tax identification number, but I’d suggest you call the department of revenue.

Here’s some info about insurance: http://forrager.com/faq/#insurance

I’m not a macaron specialist, but if egg white is absolutely essential, then one possibility would be to use pasteurized eggs. However, my guess is that people selling macarons either have them approved with egg white, or do not use it in their fillings. You can check with your health dept to see what they would approve.

It’s not allowed: http://forrager.com/faq/#jerky

You probably need a business license (you don’t need to be incorporated)… not sure if you need a tax number. Here’s some info on insurance: http://forrager.com/faq/#insurance

It all depends on where you live. I’d recommend that as a first step, you call your county’s planning division.

Angela, as Jenny noted, I think you really need to know your market before committing to a corporation structure. She has very good and specific reasons for choosing it. The $800 franchise tax has been a big wake up call for some CFOs that over anticipated their success, later realizing that they didn’t really need an LLC. My personal…[Read more]

I don’t believe a product like that is allowed in Michigan.

I don’t think it matters (the law doesn’t specify it), but FM managers can require whatever they want to. So if they will kick you out if you don’t use stick on labels, then I would use them!