Thao Yang

It’s true that lobbying plays a big part in the strictness of Texas. However, when it comes to canned goods, botulism is a major concern.

Thanks for letting me know. I’m looking into the problem, but for now, I just disabled reCAPTCHA, so it should work. Thanks for your persistence and patience!

Taylor, you can find business in any way you want, including using Facebook in a variety of ways. You can sell cakes as long as you follow all of the rules for Florida’s cottage food law: http://forrager.com/law/florida/

You won’t be able to use the cottage food law, since you are not baking the dough at home. Instead, it sounds like you will have to produce the dough in a commercial kitchen.

You would need to use a commercial kitchen and go through a much different, and much more complicated, process of getting a license. Instead of searching for how to sell tea, simply search for how to start a food business in Texas. The rules are similar for all food businesses. You should also talk to your health dept about what you need.

Ed, as far as I know, you would need to use a commercial kitchen to do this. I know it seems impractical but it is the same process that other companies that produce fermented foods use.

Christian, if you are a Class B CFO, then you can sell to commercial businesses, and it is my understanding that they can sell your product by the same means that they sell their own. So assuming that the farmers market vendor is a commercial food business (and not simply a farmer that sells produce), then I would think that they could resell your…[Read more]

Michelle, I’m not surprised that they wouldn’t allow canal water. Usually private water allowances are in regards to underground wells that are not in proximity to animals, waste, etc. Private wells are allowed after they have been tested. Perhaps you could offer to have your water tested, though they might still not allow it because there are too…[Read more]

Juan, I still haven’t heard about any changes in Miami Dade’s policy, but you should contact their health dept to ask if they allow CFOs now. It would be the same with the other counties you mentioned, but I will say that you must use the laws of whichever county your primary residence is in. You can’t just use any county’s law, unless you move there.

I do not know for sure if peanut butter would be allowed, but I assume that it would.

The process for getting setup can be pretty complicated, and is largely dependent on your town or county. The fastest way to get info about how to start this kind of business is to talk to the health inspector in your area. When I tried to setup a business in…[Read more]

First of all, I just want to clarify that the Home Kitchen Operation law is only in a select few counties. If your county is one of the ones that allows homemade baked goods to be sold under that law, then I’d assume that you would still have to package and label the product. The reasons for packaging and labeling are based on health and safety…[Read more]

I don’t think any savory pies would be allowed. You cannot use meat or cheese in your items. If you make a savory pie that does not require refrigeration, it may be allowed. Otherwise, you need to prepare your pies in a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Yes, you can start any kind of food business if you use a commercial kitchen, but you’ll also need to get the necessary licenses to run your business, which can be complicated.

The cottage food law covers spices and seasonings, so yes, you can make those, and yes, you would be limited to less than $20,000 of sales. You need to get a sales tax certificate.

It’s worded in a confusing way, but basically, the bill language means that if you make “$20,000 or more”, then the cottage food law exemption no longer applies to…[Read more]

You do not need a license from the ag dept, though you might need a business license from your city, county, or state.

Because you are so specialized, you might want to consider moving your production into a commercial kitchen as soon as possible so that you can sell to other states.

My guess is that you won’t be able to do what you envision. If all you are doing is making pizza dough, baking it, and then selling baked pizza crusts (with nothing on them) for customers to pickup, then yes, I’d say this is possible. You can sell bread as a cottage food operation in MA. I’m not sure if you could use an outdoor oven to do that,…[Read more]