James McKenna

Most charitable bake sales are exempt from the requirements of food businesses. http://forrager.com/faq/#nonprofit
Anyone starting a bake sale like that should contact their health dept.

Correct, it’s almost always illegal for someone to operate a restaurant in their neighborhood, even a small one. When these services get large enough, they have to answer to regulators. One Bay Area service like this (Josephine) recently got shut down by the health dept because they were growing very quickly.

Self-employment tax includes social security tax. That’s the tax you pay in your quarterly estimated tax payments as a business. If you earn under a certain amount, you don’t need to pay quarterly.

Getting a CFO license means that you can ONLY use your home kitchen. You do not need to get your kitchen inspected unless you want to sell indirectly (via a third party, like a store). http://forrager.com/law/california/

Yes, you need a license and you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Hi David,
Sorry – I missed your last response! I’d be happy to discuss. Please email me at lovbakery@gmail.com.

I don’t understand it either.

You’ll have to check with zoning laws before you can establish a pickup area, and you may have to get some kind of permit.

Charlotte, it hasn’t changed, and I don’t think it will change anytime soon. You will need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

I don’t live in SoCal, so I can’t share the account, but I would be interested in hearing some of the price differences that you’re able to achieve.

Hi! Yes, that’s correct – I get my baking ingredients from a wholesale distributor. Most items are in bulk and are significantly cheaper than in a retail store.

I don’t think either of those would be allowed, but you can check with your environmental health dept. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Just to clarify, you are using them to source your ingredients? I assume that is less expensive than stores?