Melissa

Thank you for responding David.

I got a reply back from someone from the TN.gov office. They don’t know how to handle this either. They’re trying to get some information for me.

It’s a unique setup, for sure. I don’t think I’ve heard of anything quite that elaborate, though I do know CFOs who pool money to buy ingredients wholesale from existing suppliers.

I can’t claim to know anything more than UT’s ag dept, so you’ll have to wait for responses from them, but I will say that a number of states are fine with flours and…[Read more]

As long as all of the proceeds go to the nonprofit, usually there is an exemption that you can use: http://forrager.com/faq/#nonprofit

Since you are making the sale, this is an indirect, out-of-state order. She needs to have a license that will allow indirect and out-of-state sales, which may not be allowed with a TN domestic kitchen license. There’s a very good chance that she will need to open a commercial bakery in order to do this. Unfortunately, I can’t give a definitive…[Read more]

Sales need to be made directly between the customer and producer. A farmers market wouldn’t be able to take orders on the behalf of a vendor. A producer could probably do a paper order (pre-order) one week at the farmers market and collect money then, and then fulfill the order at the next week’s market. But I don’t think anything beyond that…[Read more]

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.