Laura Prado

First of all, although I’m familiar with the law, I’m not really in a position where I could override anything that an official in your area says. Here are my thoughts:
1) Your farmers market manager is telling you that you can’t use the cottage food law. You need to make you food in a commercial kitchen and get a few other things. There’s no…[Read more]

More questions about Brevard County: It seems whatever office I go I get different answers…
Question #1: if I want to sell homemade baked goodies at farmers market venues under Cottage Law, do I still need a Food Permit? This is what a FM’s manager replied: “you must (1)have a food permit, (2) prepare the foods in a facility that meets certain…[Read more]

Actually candy may be one of the only items for which you do need to charge sales tax. For some reason, most categories, like baked goods, are exempt, but candies often specifically require sales tax. At least that is true in other areas of the country. I’m not entirely sure for your area and your situation.

In Florida, an inspection can only happen if a customer has a health concern/complaint. I have never heard of that happening to any CFO across the states… at the very least, it’s exceedingly rare.

Kamila, I recommend you call the ag dept at 850-245-5520

The ag dept is responsible for enforcing the cottage food law, so if they don’t know, then I sure don’t. You basically need to find out if they will allow you to make food with alcohol in it, and if so, do you need to get an alcohol license? You can also try contacting the Alcohol Division to see if they know.

It’s quite possible that that’s all accurate info, and it’s also possible that they are making guesses. Ultimately, you need to get whatever they determine you need to get. I think you could start by bringing a copy of the law and making sure they are completely familiar with it. You could also contact nearby counties to see how they are handling…[Read more]