David Crabill
@david
active 1 day, 9 hours agoForum Replies Created
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Commercial food processing laws are fairly complicated and often county-specific. You should direct your questions to your local health dept. Once you get your business setup, you will be able to sell in most places with relatively few restrictions.
Yes, you always have to pay yearly income taxes.
I don’t think there’s any exemption — perhaps the ag dept will allow you to hand out labels separately from the item, or possibly hand out the ingredient list separately.
If you look at some products in stores (like candy bars), you can see that a lot of info can be fit onto a small package. It’s also possible to use some creativity to attach the label in various ways, such as with a tag that connects to the item with a ribbon.
I would also personally recommend trying to whittle down your ingredient list! This isn’t always possible, but with some experimentation, I’ve been surprised at how much better a product can be with some simplification. For instance, I replaced store-bought marshmallow creme (8 ingredients) with corn syrup — it improved my fudge and removed an allergen from my product. Try whole wheat flour instead of other flour types. Short, simple ingredient lists also happen to be what increasing numbers of buyers are looking for. This can be a competitive advantage for you.
You will probably still need a business license if your county requires it. However, using the cottage food law will help you bypass a lot of the strict requirements from the health dept, like inspections. I’m not entirely sure if they will allow buttercream frosting, though… check with your ag dept.
It’s probably allowed, but you need to test the product first before you can sell it. http://foodsciencehumannutrition.umaine.edu/food-technology/process-and-product-reviews/
I’d recommend you contact ServSafe to help resolve computer issues, but you could also call your health dept to see if they have any local courses available.
I don’t know if those are allowed, but I’m almost certain that they would require lab testing before you can sell them. Some of them would probably be allowed, but I think some (like apple butter) are generally safer than others (like pear butter), so you might only be able to sell certain types of fruit butters. You will need to talk to the ag dept before proceeding with your business.
I would say that getting insurance will protect you more than an LLC would. If you haven’t already, you’ll want to read these FAQs:
http://forrager.com/faq/#insurance
http://forrager.com/faq/#llcI do not think you can do what you suggested. However, it’s worth noting that the “no LLC” info came from this report, which seems extremely well-researched. I still haven’t officially heard this limitation from the health dept itself.
Business licenses are usually very county or city-dependent. I’d never heard about a minimal activity license, but after a little searching, it looks like it’s available in some counties for businesses with gross sales of under $10,000. In TN, as a cottage food operation, there is no sales limit, so it depends on what your yearly revenues are. It also depends on what county you’re in and what they require. As far as I know, there is no blanket answer for the entire state, and you will need to check with your local officials.
