Amy Huffman

Usually restaurants and grocery stores are more lucrative if you can get them to carry your products. Most startups just do whatever they can get their hands on, or whatever they have the time for. Selling to individuals takes less time and effort, and can be more rewarding because you develop relationships with your customers. But it just depends…[Read more]

You would need to make the muffins and cookies in a commercial kitchen. As far as I know, it isn’t possible to do at home. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Colorado actually doesn’t specifically say in their online resources that shipping is disallowed, but if you asked the health dept, I’m 95% sure they would say no to shipping. You can interpret it however you want, but interstate sales are definitely not allowed.

I don’t think those are allowed under the cottage food law.

I know someone in San Francisco (Cookie Dough Cookies) that was approved to sell cookie dough made with pasteurized eggs. He doesn’t freeze it but that doesn’t matter. Even still, your county might not allow it, but it’s definitely possible.

Yes, it is beyond the cottage food law, so there is no way to do that kind of business from home. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

I know you need a business license and you need to file taxes every month. I don’t know if they require you to get an EIN… usually you only get one if you are an employer of others, but sometimes it’s necessary for other reasons. You should ask about that when you apply for your business license.

No — no drink items are allowed.

This is not a cottage food business since you are not preparing the food. I believe you’d just need to get a seller’s permit or something, and I think the health dept issues them.

You could attach a tag or you could have the ingredients separate. The most important thing is that all the info is attached in some way.

Yes you can advertise online — you just can’t sell online.

The difference is that you are not meeting the end consumers like you would be at a farmers market, so it’s not allowed, as far as I know. Also, it’s not entirely clear what is an allowed food in Maryland, but tortillas are probably not allowed because they’re not baked.

You must start your CFO in the home you primarily live in.
1) You can sell cakes directly in other counties in CA. You can’t sell indirectly unless the counties coordinate with each other and agree on it.
2) It’s a little more expensive and complicated, but it’s best to get the Class B up-front if you think you’ll use it in the next year. If you…[Read more]

You can’t do this from home — you would have to get a commercial license: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

If you get a standard commercial license, which requires the use of a commercial kitchen (only), then you can do just about anything possible… it’s just more complicated and more expensive, and less convenient if you’d rather cook in your home. But you could sell anywhere, including interstate and over the internet, and you would be given a license.

Even though the liquid version is shelf-stable, that doesn’t mean they would approve it.

If it has a smooth consistency, then it would probably be a nut butter, even though it’s dried. Nut butters that aren’t dried are okay, so I can’t see why this wouldn’t be allowed.

Sorry, it’s not possible. You must use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Yes, that’s correct. Generally, starting a cottage food operation is the cheapest way possible for you to start a food business legally. In terms of the last question, you might want to check out the book “Cooking Up A Business”, by Rachel Hofstetter: http://bestmomproducts.com/top-3-foodie-entrepreneur-tips/
http://forrager.com/faq/#starting