Tracy Mason

I’m sure it will depend on your state laws and what the health or ag dept in your area decides. I doubt that you can do this with a cottage food law, but perhaps some states would allow it.

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 would not be legal. Aside from the fact that your box sale likely wouldn’t sell well without the cookies (the box is not really what you’re selling), typically food laws place the same requirements on publicly-available foods, regardless of whether there is a charge for them or not.

Yes, you would need a permit. I believe it would be the same permit that you’d need if you were actually making the cookies and bread.

Your best bet is to call the dept that manages zoning, and they will tell you exactly what you need. It’s common for areas to require special use permits like this, and yes, they can be complicated and expensive. I don’t think there’s any legal way to avoid it, if you need it.

Yes, that is considered a cottage food, and no, you can’t sell it on Etsy unless you are using a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

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

No — that would be considered an indirect sale.

1) I don’t think customers can pick it up from your home. Probably the best thing would be to deliver the items.

2) It would depend on your local zoning laws, since that might increase foot and car traffic in a residential area. Since I just focus on the cottage food laws, I haven’t really tracked resources for commercial food businesses, but the…[Read more]