David Crabill

Margie, setting up a commercial kitchen in your home is definitely complicated and not many people do it. However, if you can’t get access to another commercial kitchen, or if working out of your home is a must, then putting a commercial kitchen in your home will be the only way to have an unrestricted food business.

A cottage food operation sounds like it might almost be too limited for you, given that you’ve already given consideration to do all that to your kitchen. As you may know, the cottage food law is different for each county in MO, and one may not even exist in yours. You need to check with the health department.

Without knowing the specifics about your cottage food law, I can tell you that most only let you make food from your home kitchen (making food from any other kitchen would not be allowed). You’d also be limited to non-potentially hazardous foods at the most, you won’t be able to make items that need to be refrigerated. A cottage food operation is a registered business and you can advertise however you want, but all your sales would probably need to be direct (in-person). So while would could sell at a school, you couldn’t sell to a school where they would resell the food. If you’re talking about a school fundraiser, then you should know that most states provide an exemption for religious and charitable events where no license is needed.

You mean inter-county sales within the state? Yes, that’s fine.

Many states allow roasted coffee, but Maryland doesn’t specifically list info about it online. I assume that you would be allowed to make it, given Maryland’s rules, but you need to ask your health department before going ahead. Sorry I can’t help you too much.

Jan, unfortunately Santa Clara county seems to be the most restrictive county in the state. They are very strict, at least regarding the cottage food laws.

In short, this cottage food law would not apply to you. Not that it would matter anyway… Santa Clara’s cottage food permit fees are very expensive.

Fortunately, there is an exemption for these types of events in California’s Retail Food Code. On page 90, in Chapter 11, section 114339(b):

“Notwithstanding subdivision (a), nonpotentially hazardous beverages and baked goods may be offered for sale, sold, or given away by a nonprofit charitable organization or by an established club or organization that operates under the authorization of a school or educational facility for fundraising purposes at community events.”

So based on that, you should be able to hold your event without a license. Most states have an exemption like this for these types of events, but your county does have the authority to override that state ruling. Let’s hope that’s not the case.

I wish I could help you more. All I know for sure is that this wouldn’t be allowed under the cottage food law, but you already know that. I believe that you can run this kind of business from home, but I am not an expert in any way about creating personal care products. You might need to get a home occupation permit and seller’s permit, and I think you have to charge sales tax for that. Beyond that, I can’t guide you further.