Kristi Otto with One More Bite Organic Desserts
Kristi Otto of Fort Myers, FL shares how she leveraged her extensive food industry experience to succeed with her cottage food bakery, despite her community not resonating with her products initially
Nicole DiMarco with All About The Freeze
Nicole DiMarco of West Deptford, NJ shares how she took the leap with a new product, and leveraged her sales, retail, and social media experience to quickly start a successful cottage food business
Valerie Allensworth with The Donut Lady
Valerie Allensworth of Sitka, AK shares how she built a very successful cottage food business by focusing on consistency, despite living on a remote island in Alaska and facing many unique challenges
Jenifer & Tristan Hoke with The Drunken Chef
Jenifer & Tristan Hoke of Tecumseh, OK share how they used sheer persistence to overcome early sales struggles, and found a business model that works so well that they now can’t keep up with demand
Mark Elvidge with Vermont Nut Free Chocolates
Mark Elvidge shares how he and his wife started Vermont Nut Free Chocolates from home in 1998 and built it into an international brand with over 1,000 wholesale locations and constant growth each year
Monique Germaine with Kneading to Bake
Monique Germaine of Nashville, TN shares how she built and rebuilt her cottage food bakery in 3 different states, plus a crazy commercial food business journey that got her products into big retailers
Eric & Denise Steilberger with Fudge De Fûge
Eric & Denise Steilberger of Ocala, FL sell their homemade fudge all year long and share how the lessons they learned from running a cafe in Alaska helped them build a successful cottage food business
Invest In Yourself with Stephanie Wiley
Stephanie Wiley of Whitefish, MT shares how the tragic loss of her son inspired her to start a cookie business, which she has quickly grown by seeking help from others and investing in the business
Healthy Grains, Wealthy Gains with Tamara Ketchian
Tamara Ketchian of Orange, CT sells gluten-free vegan granola and shares how she’s gone from stay-at-home mom to starting a cottage food bakery to now scaling her business with a commercial kitchen
The Freeze Dried Trend with Janna Newcomb Walworth
Janna Newcomb Walworth of Choctaw, OK has rapidly grown her cottage food business selling freeze dried candy, fruits, veggies, etc, and shares why she doesn’t think this trend will end anytime soon
Priorities, Passion, & Profits with Leah Livingston
Leah Livingston of Kenosha, WI shares how two personal tragedies led her to build a successful custom decorated cookie business that allowed her to quit her job and eventually expand into a storefront
How To Scale A Food Business with Annette Conrad
Annette Conrad of Mequon, WI shares how she massively scaled her home-based custom decorated cookie business by building a team, optimizing systems, and selling to event planners and corporate clients.
Makin’ Friends, Sellin’ Food, Havin’ Fun with Connie & Rick Martin
Connie & Rick Martin of Charleston, WV share how they built a successful business by discovering a very unique product, accruing 15 wholesale accounts, and constantly networking and asking for help.
The One-Woman Show with Amanda Luecke
Amanda Luecke of Maple Grove, MN shares how she built a thriving custom decorated cookie business with over 26k Instagram followers by focusing on her customers, community, & family.
Living Off The Land with Beatrice Lattimore
Beatrice Lattimore from Deland, FL shares how her family moved from the city into the country to start a farm and live off the land, and how she used the cottage food law to sell value-added products.
2021 Recap: A Record Year for the Cottage Food Industry
WOW… what a year it has been for our growing cottage food industry!
As I wrote about last year, the pandemic really highlighted the need for people to be able to sell their homemade food.
And in 2021, states responded in a BIG way! This year, more states improved their laws for selling homemade food than in any other year in history.
How To Sell French Macarons Online with Anthony Rosemond
Anthony Rosemond lives in Phelan, CA and shares how he and his wife Yami moved from France to start a French bakery that went from selling macarons at farmers markets to now selling them nationwide.
Mom By Day, Baker By Night with Daniela Zographos
Daniela Zographos of Anderson, SC shares how she niched down to only selling custom-decorated cake pops, which made her home bakery even more successful and gave her more time to spend with her kids.
Behind The Scenes Of A Cottage Food Bill
Last week, on September 16th, 2021, California’s governor signed AB 1144, a cottage food bill that will improve California’s cottage food law.
It is the last of 17 cottage food initiatives that have passed in 2021 (the most of any year, by far).
This amendment was long overdue, as California had not amended their law since 2013!
But did I ever think I would be the one spearheading CA’s next cottage food law improvement? Definitely not!
The Self-Taught Supermom with April Spencer
Cake decorator and sugar artist April Spencer from Harrod, OH shares how she sells custom cakes and lollipops from home and on Etsy while being a nearly full-time stay-at-home mom of 3 young children.
Launching A Keto Bakery From Home with Sari Stevenson
Sari Stevenson of Costa Mesa, CA shares how she started a keto bakery and sold over $50,000 of homemade baked goods within the first year, leading her to move into a commercial kitchen to keep growing.
Chocolates That Almost Sell Themselves with Anne Reist
Anne Reist of Holladay, UT sells eyepopping hand-painted couverture chocolates and shares how she organically grew her business to the point of building a commercial kitchen into her home.
Go Big AND Go Home with Debbie George
Debbie George of Gilbert, AZ shares how she sold over 10,000 homemade custom cookies in her first year of business by going all-in, networking with other businesses, and focusing on B2B sales.
How To Start An Eco-Friendly & Socially Responsible Cookie Business with Barry Sherman
Barry Sherman and his life partner Scott, from Tampa Bay, FL, run an eco-friendly, socially-conscious, high-end cookie business by using compostable packaging and giving a portion of sales to charity.
The Cookie Cutter Queen with Tina Karnath
Tina Karnath from Saginaw, MI owns a plethora of cookie cutters and decorates hundreds of custom-designed cookies each week. She talks about pricing, resources, and what she’s learned over the years.