Rita Veiga

Yes, that’s doable but usually quite expensive and complicated. It’s likely that the commercial kitchen would have to be separate from your primary kitchen. Unless NJ has very lenient standards, you can expect to pay thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for that remodel. I would personally recommend renting at first and proving your business…[Read more]

Setting aside the sales tax question temporarily, I just want to make sure that you’ve gone through the steps to make sure you’re running your business legally. Are you sure that your county doesn’t require you to get a business license for your chocolate business? More general info: http://forrager.com/faq/#starting

From what I understand, a…[Read more]

All of the prep needs to happen in the commercial kitchen… you can’t use your home for production. Once you go through the process of becoming a commercial food processor, you can sell anywhere (assuming you have the appropriate permits to sell there).

You can do dry spices under the cottage food law and you can’t ship them. If you want to ship, you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Either the tea sellers are producing their tea in a commercial kitchen, or they are operating illegally. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

I know it seems weird, but actually those kind of prohibitions happen all the time across the country. The cottage food law doesn’t omit Charleston… the city does. It’s their choice to allow the law and if they choose not to, there’s not much you can do about it aside from moving. The most knowledgeable person about this is Sheryl, the admin at…[Read more]

Reselling of your products is not allowed in any way. I’m not sure if they can offer your pretzels without reselling them… you should contact the health dept to ask about that.

You wouldn’t be able to make the cupcakes in your home kitchen to sell in this way. Instead, you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You can’t sell it under the cottage food law… you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You can’t sell it under the cottage food law… you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

No, NY isn’t really setup for a custom food business, since they only allow sales at events and stores. The law is intended for a home cook who makes items and then brings them to an event and sells them there, or sells them to a store for resale. You should contact your health dept: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You’ll probably need to brew it in a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Yes, as long as you’re using a commercial kitchen and have the appropriate licenses from the health dept and county, you can sell your hot sauce. You need to call your health dept learn about the steps to become a commercial food processor.

All of your products need to be packaged and labeled in your home, regardless of how they’re sold. The section of the law that you mentioned is intended for a restaurant that buys your product and then integrates it into their menu. Since your mom is appears to be a convenience store and not a food facility (which would have a commercial kitchen),…[Read more]

That’s great to hear, Krystle. Sometimes the health dept just doesn’t like the laws the way they are written. But it could also be that they thought they knew what they were talking about and didn’t want to admit that they were wrong. I’m glad they finally chose to allow it.

Although kombucha isn’t allowed under VA’s cottage food law, you should still talk to your health dept to see if there’s a way you can bottle it at home and sell it. Otherwise, you’ll need to use a commercial kitchen.

As you know, to sell in restaurants you can’t operate under the cottage food law. You should need a commercial food processor license, which requires you to use a commercial kitchen. Many large churches have kitchens that are inspected by the health dept, but you will need to check to make sure your church has a commercial kitchen. You need to…[Read more]