David Crabill
@david
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Oh okay… you’re definitely not going to find that info online! You need to be in close communication with the health dept.
You mean for building one? It’s super complicated and the rules a different for each dept. If you just want to use a commercial kitchen, you can do that, but you’ll still need to submit plans to the health dept. I’m not sure exactly what your question is, but I won’t have any definite answers because it depends on the dept.
You must follow Maryland’s laws, and I don’t think they will allow you to sell in PA.
I don’t know of any Spanish materials for the cottage food industry. I will eventually add translation capabilities to this site, but that probably won’t happen for another year. Our analytics show that over 99% of visitors are English speakers, and about 0.1% are Spanish speakers. I’m sure the number would be higher if it were translated.
You can’t sell those items if you make them at home. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial
You can’t incorporate catering. Catering includes handling food outside of the home, and a CFO, by definition, must do all preparation and handling of food inside the home. So you do need to go the commercial route and talk to your health dept.
I’m sure you have to be licensed, but I’m not sure how. You should contact your health dept.
No — direct means that you are personally interacting with the buyer when the sale happens. But there are also rules about what a food establishment can sell — I don’t think you can even setup a table in a coffee shop and sell there directly.
I think the main reason is that they just don’t need to. Farmers markets are so popular that most of them have an abundance of sellers lining up. Some have a year-long waiting list. There are also some markets that only focus on produce, which is understandable.
Farmers markets that accept CFOs are usually ones that simply like the idea of supporting home businesses, or are less reputable ones. Otherwise, CFOs are just yet another type of business clamoring to get into their market — a type of business they don’t need to bother with. You can try drafting a letter if you want to, but I honestly don’t think trying to fight them is going to influence their stance.
I haven’t heard of someone getting a barcode, but I’m sure it has been necessary for some indirect sales. If it were me, I’d wait until you have deals with the retail stores, and they can let you know if you need a barcode. They may not require one, or they may put a sticker on themselves.
