Laura Prado

Actually the ag dept’s stance on sampling recently changed, and this element got overlooked when I updated that law page a couple weeks ago. Sorry about that!

You can offer samples as long as they are prepackaged in your home kitchen. They don’t need to have individual labels, but you do need to have a fully-labeled product on-hand to show the…[Read more]

You would need to start using a commercial kitchen and get a license from your health dept. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You would need to start using a commercial kitchen and get a license from your health dept. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Yes, you can use all of those methods, but your sales must be made in-person.

Yes, you need to get a license and find a commercial kitchen to use. Most importantly, you need to talk to your health dept about all the steps required in starting the business. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

It is a non-PHF, but your state probably has different rules for vendors producing on-site at a market (the cottage food law is for items prepared at home). You should check with your area’s ag or health dept.

I think that using a convection oven (but not a microwave) to bake would be fine. Items that are not baked, like fudge, no bake cookies, and no bake candy, would not be allowed.

Every county is a little different. You probably do need to register a business to get a Class B permit in LA, but it shouldn’t be hard to do. At the very least, you can just become a sole proprietorship under your name. When you submit your permit application to the health dept, they will tell you whether you need to get registered with the county first.

The best way to protect a name is through trademarking, but first, I would highly recommend that you don’t worry about that until you are making substantial revenue from your business. Unless you are making waves in your industry, you don’t give people much reason to steal your name. You should be so lucky for people to care about your business…[Read more]