Steve Kramer

A cottage food operation is only for someone preparing and packaging products in their home kitchen, and then selling them to consumers for consumption outside of the home. I’m not sure if home cooking classes are even possible in CA, but you can talk to your health dept to see what the options are.

I’d prefer to answer your questions on the site so others can benefit from the info. If you have questions beyond that, you should call your health dept.

I believe it’s the state that issues seller permits, but I’m not sure if you need one. I know some counties require them, and fortunately they’re free. Even if your county doesn’t require them, a venue you sell at might require them. I know some CFOs get one just in case. The environmental health dept can tell you if they require thme.

Selling uncooked mushrooms would fall under the realm of the ag dept, similar to selling produce. It wouldn’t fall under the cottage food law and I don’t know the rules about selling those.

End-of-year income tax is going to be based on gross sales, and probably as a self-employment tax. You just add up the total sales, remove your deductions, and your tax program should tell you what you owe. If you make enough money, you may have to submit estimated taxes quarterly.

Typically any sweet fruit jelly is allowed. It should have a significant amount of sugar in it… low sugar preserves would likely not be allowed. Pepper jellies would not be allowed.

Yes, if you have a commercial license from the health dept, you’d be relatively unrestricted.

I’d recommend a sole-proprietorship. Please see here: http://forrager.com/groups/california/forum/topic/can-you-expand-answer-on-llc/

This wouldn’t fall under the cottage food law. You’ll need to talk to the health dept.

There is no legal way to sell homemade cheesecakes in TN. Your mom needs a commercial license, which would also allow her to take online orders and do interstate sales. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Yes, you can do any direct sales to customers.

You mean food stamps? I really don’t know.

You can run it as a partnership, but each business has the $45,000 sales restriction, so that’d be $22,500 of sales (not profit) max per person.

The requirements don’t change much for Class B. You need to get an inspection so you can sell to stores and restaurants, and you can only do those indirect sales within your county, unless another county…[Read more]

I have talked with a government official in North Dakota, which is the only reason ND is green on the map. Even though they don’t have laws, they regularly allow small producers to run their food businesses from home. I’d say you’d be best off talking to your ag dept and seeing what they allow.

That’s correct — no homemade food may be sold on Etsy or anywhere else online.

You need a commercial license and can’t produce at home: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial