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Michelle Chesser with Home Sweet Home Bakery

Michelle Chesser of Millersville, MO started her home bakery 16 years ago from humble beginnings and built it into a “monster” that changed her family’s life and led her to become an online influencer

Chris Martin with bakernobakery

Chris Martin of Charlottesville, VA shares how she used her experience working at 3-star Michelin restaurants to build a successful cottage food bakery, and then reinvented it despite its popularity

Davia Delgado with Raven Cakes Bakery

Davia Delgado of Trenton, NJ has experienced incredibly fast growth in her cottage food bakery, and shares how she achieved many $2k and $3k sales days within her first year of business

Elena-Maria Hert with European Baked Delights

Elena-Maria Hert of Billings, MT shares how she persisted to create a successful cottage food bakery, despite struggling to acquire customers, source ingredients, and achieve work/life balance

Allyson Grant with The Better Baker Club

Allyson Grant of Baldwin City, KS shares her wild journey from starting a home bakery to growing a chain of cupcake stores, appearing on the Food Network, and coaching cottage food entrepreneurs

Rachel Laukala with Cakepops by Rachel

Rachel Laukala of Ravensdale, WA shares how she built a very successful cottage food bakery selling only cake pops, amassed over 100k followers on Instagram, and started an online cake pop school

Matt Rosen with Sergeant Shortbread

Matt Rosen of Eden Prairie, MN shares his unlikely journey from non-baker to bakery owner, including a major rebrand, a fortuitous commercial facility, and a business decision that tripled his sales

Delaney Peters with Delaney’s Sourdough

Delaney Peters of Wasilla, AK shares how her cottage food bakery became a massive success within its first year, despite having modest business ambitions and also being a stay-at-home mom of an infant

Maci Reed with Bake-a-Reed

Maci Reed of Dover, NH shares how she rapidly built a successful cottage food bakery by focusing on helping others and fostering community, and eventually sold over 1,000 baked goods in a single day

Welcome to N Theory Farm- Where everything works!

Welcome to N Theory Farm! We are the Sims family, and in the spring 2020 we relocated from the deserts of Arizona to the mountains of Tennessee to continue building our dream of a self-sustainable farm and homestead. Why N Theory? Dave & Elaine used to watch the SyFy channel show ‘Eureka’, about a town… [read more]

Denise Golia with Dee’s Little Sweets

Denise Golia of North Providence, RI shares how she started a very successful bakery by niching way down, despite being limited by a personal injury and not being able to start from her home kitchen

Jondell Lafont-Garcia with Fluff Marshmallow Co.

Jondell Lafont-Garcia of Pflugerville, TX is one of the foremost experts in the homemade marshmallow trend and shares how she built her cottage food business despite facing a major personal challenge

Oklahoma

For many years, Oklahoma had one of the most restrictive cottage food laws in the United States. However, in 2021, Oklahoma replaced their cottage food law with the Homemade Food Freedom Act (HB 1032), and it is now one of the best laws in the country! Under the food freedom law, producers can sell their… [read more]

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

Arizona

Arizona’s has one of the best cottage food laws of any state. Producers can sell almost any type of food, including products containing meat. Most types of food products can be sold anywhere, including from home, at events, in stores, and online. However, dairy products and items containing meat can only be sold directly (in-person)… [read more]

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

Nebraska

Nebraska has a very good cottage food law. Unlike most states, producers can sell most types of homemade foods, including many types of perishable foods. Producers can sell directly to consumers at farmers markets, events, from home, and online. Non-perishable products can also be shipped. Indirect sales (wholesale, retail stores, etc) are not allowed, but… [read more]

Steph Uittenbogaard with Fifi’s Patisseries

Steph Uittenbogaard of Loveland, CO never thought she’d run her own home bakery, and she shares her atypical business journey, including both the triumphs and challenges that she’s faced along the way

Delaware

Delaware’s cottage food law began in 2016 and allows producers to sell certain types of non-perishable foods from home. Unfortunately, the law is relatively restrictive, and the process for setting up a business is very complex. Producers can only sell directly from home or at farmers markets or events, but there is no sales limit…. [read more]

Delaware On-Farm Home Processing

This law is only for farmers in Delaware. If you are not a farmer, you can use Delaware’s cottage food law to sell homemade foods. This law for on-farm home processing operations is a better option for many farmers than using the cottage food law, both because it allows more types of products, and because… [read more]

Jenn Bowersock with Jenn’s Backstube

Jenn Bowersock of Sidney, OH runs an authentic German bakery from her home, and shares how she went from struggling as an entrepreneur to experiencing rapid success by finding product/market fit

Alaska

In 2024, Alaska replaced their old cottage food law with a food freedom law (HB 251), and is now one of the best states for selling homemade food. Producers can sell almost any type of homemade food, including perishable foods and certain items with meat. Producers can sell almost anywhere within the state, including in-person,… [read more]

Alexis Kron with Bakednaz

Alexis Kron of Bullhead City, AZ shares how she built a successful cottage food bakery selling luxury custom cakes, despite overcoming personal challenges and facing resistance from her community

New Hampshire

New Hampshire has a two-tier system for “homestead food operations”: unlicensed and licensed. Unlicensed operators can sell homemade food at farmers markets, from home, or at their own farm stand. Operators who get a Homestead License can sell at almost any sales venue, including wholesale, selling online, and shipping products. The other requirements are the… [read more]

One More Bite Organic Desserts

One More Bite Organic Desserts is a cottage bakery that specializes in decadent, organic treats that are peanut-free, soy-free, and corn-free. They also offer a selection of gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan options, making them the perfect choice for people with dietary restrictions. One More Bite Organic Desserts caters for weddings, corporate events, and mobile food… [read more]

Tyler & Angie Worthey with Worthey Peppers

Tyler Worthey of Neoga, IL shares how he built a very successful cottage food business during high school, and how he and his mom Angie now work together as a mother/son team to take it to new heights

Ka’Terra Dettbarn with Sweet Addiction

Ka’Terra Dettbarn of Ocean City, MD endured lots of trial and error when starting a cottage bakery with her sister, but by persisting and listening for guidance, they transformed it into a success

Virginia

Virginia allows producers to start a food business from home without getting licensed or inspected, but it comes with some restrictions. If you want to have fewer restrictions (make more types of food, sell at more locations, etc), you can apply to be a home food processing operation, which requires a home kitchen inspection and… [read more]

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

Marci Larson with Kahler’s Cakes

Marci Larson of Sioux Falls, SD shares how she turned her longtime dream of selling baked goods into a reality and built a successful cottage food business by selling wholesale and at many events

Massachusetts

UPDATE Since this page was last updated, Boston created an ordinance to allow residential kitchens, so now Boston residents can use the cottage food law. Massachusetts developed its law for “residential kitchens” in 2000, well before cottage food laws became common. Residential kitchens are considered “food establishments” (like their commercial counterparts), so it is harder… [read more]

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

Minnesota

Minnesota used to have one of the most restrictive cottage food laws in the nation. In 2015, they passed a new law (SF 5) which greatly improved their law, and then they further improved it in 2021 by passing an amendment (SF 958). Cottage food producers can sell almost any type of nonperishable food, but they… [read more]

Rob Sanz with Rise Artisan Sourdough

Rob Sanz of Rockville, MD shares how he’s added a cottage food bakery to a busy family life and career, and why he has intentionally kept his microbakery small, even though he could easily grow it

Elisa Marie Lords with Elisa Marie Baking

Elisa Marie Lords of Placentia, CA shares how she overcame early struggles with her sales and built a thriving cottage food bakery by focusing on community, consistency, and customer service

Tiffany Hill with Think Pink Bakers

Tiffany Hill shares how she built on her success as a cottage food baker by creating a thriving online community/course and a packaging business, both of which have experienced unprecedented growth

Ohio

Ohio’s cottage food law does not require any licensing from the ag department, and there is no sales limit, but the law limits producers in other ways. Rather than allowing all direct sales, operations can only sell their items at specific types of venues, which does include a couple indirect (wholesale) channels, like selling to a… [read more]

Connecticut

After many years of consistent effort, Connecticut finally created a usable cottage food law (PA 18-141 or SB 193) that went into effect on October 1st, 2018. Before then, only farmers could sell homemade food. Farmers can still use the Residential Farm law to sell certain types of canned goods. This law allows the direct… [read more]

Colorado

The “Colorado Cottage Foods Act” began in 2012 and was amended in 2013, 2015, and 2016 (read about the history of the act). 2016’s amendment (SB 16-058) added all non-PHF foods to the approved list (including pickled items) and enabled internet sales within the state. The current law restricts producers to direct sales only, but no license from… [read more]

Tiffany Hill with The Pink Crumbb

Tiffany Hill of Apple Valley, CA shares how she switched careers and built a full-time income from her cottage food bakery, after initially struggling to make sales and nearly shutting it down

Idaho

Idaho has allowed for the sale of low-risk homemade foods for years, but is just now codifying their practices into state rules. The new proposed rules were passed in January 2016, and they should become effective by April 2016. However, it is currently possible to directly sell cottage foods, and the below information describes current practices…. [read more]

Caked by Carolina

Home-based cake shop located in Plymouth, Indiana since 2021. All of our cakes are custom and made to order. We bake fresh using quality ingredients and add creative designs to ensure a unique and satisfying experience for our customers.

Nevada

Nevada’s cottage food law (SB 206) allows many different types of food products to be sold, but it is restricted in most other ways. Cottage food operators must make all of their sales in-person, and they are limited to $35,000 of sales per year. There are four health districts that register cottage food operations in the… [read more]

Nevada Craft Food Operation

In 2015, Nevada passed the “pickle bill” (SB 441), allowing homemade acidified foods to be sold. This law permits individuals to prepare and sell these foods from their homes, or from approved locations like social clubs, schools, or nonprofits. Sales are capped at $35,000 per year.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is a bit different than other states in that it doesn’t have laws specific to cottage food operations, but the Department of Agriculture simply allows “limited food establishments” that meet specific guidelines. The application process is lengthy, but limited food establishments have a lot of flexibility once they’re setup. Unlike other states, in Pennsylvania, there are many similarities between the… [read more]

Mississippi

Prior to 2013, Mississippi only allowed sales of homemade food at farmers markets, but they passed a new cottage food bill (SB 2553) that year to allow in-person sales at other venues as well. However, individuals can now sell only $35,000 of homemade food per year. Fortunately, many types of food products are allowed, and it’s very… [read more]

Georgia

Georgia’s cottage food laws are pretty good, though it takes some effort for cottage food operators to get setup initially.  Operators must have a business license, take a training course, send in an application, and get their home inspected before they can get their cottage food license.  However, once setup, they are not limited to a… [read more]

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

Michelle Dukes with The Cookie Cutters

Michelle Dukes of Penfield, NY shares why she shifted her business model after 10 years of running a cottage food bakery, while keeping focus on the most important aspect of her business: having fun

Shupan Abraham with Cakes By Shupan

Shupan Abraham of Lawrenceville, GA shares how her cottage food bakery transformed once she hired a coach, and what she’s learned about putting herself out there and marketing her business effectively

David Bock with Buzzed Honeys

David Bock of Altadena, CA runs a multifaceted honey business that specializes in rescuing honey bees, and he shares local marketing tips that helped him build an email list of 3,500+ subscribers

Jessi Deily with Colby Jack Rabbit

Jessi Deily of Helena, MT sells macarons and custom-decorated meringue cookies with her cottage food business and shares her journey from struggling artist to successful baker and TikTok influencer

Oregon

Oregon has three laws that allow residents to sell homemade food, which makes it one of the best states for selling homemade food products. This page covers their basic cottage food law, which started in 2016 (SB 320) and was significantly amended in 2024 (SB 643). Those who want more flexibility with their home food… [read more]

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

Kristyn Suemnick with Old Oak Sourdough

Kristyn Suemnick of Murrieta, CA shares how her discovery of sourdough bread led to building a thriving home bakery that allows her to stay at home with her kids and better connect with her community

Megan Shonka with Happy Mango Bakery

Megan Shonka of Papillion, NE shares the highs and lows of her home-based bakery journey, the importance of being involved in her community, and her plans to expand into a brick-and-mortar storefront

Angela Awunor with Angyono Cakes

Angela Awunor of Glenn Dale, MD shares how she moved her thriving custom cake business from a commercial kitchen into her home, and how she maintains work-life balance with two full-time careers

Nonnie’s Cookie Co.

Delectable custom sugar cookies for every occasion, serving Joliet and Ottawa, IL and surrounding communities.

Denae Spiering with The Sugar Shack

Denae Spiering of Bridgeville, DE shares how she realized her long-time dream of building a brick-and-mortar bakery despite life getting in the way and pausing her cottage food business for many years

Deanna Martinez-Bey with The Fiery Whisk Bakery

Deanna Martinez-Bey of Wake Forest, NC is a multi-faceted food entrepreneur and shares her experience in building a cottage food bakery, writing books, managing social media, and running pop-up events

Washington

Washington is one of the most difficult states for starting a cottage food operation. It is very complicated to get a cottage food permit… almost as complex as setting up a commercial food business. And yet, Washington’s cottage food law is fairly limited, only allowing $35,000 of sales per year, prohibiting indirect sales (to restaurants,… [read more]

Louisiana

Louisiana’s cottage food law (Act 542) was started in 2013 and amended in 2014. The amendment (HB 1270) greatly increased the number of foods allowed, and it also increased the amount of regulations CFOs must follow. In 2022, the sales limit increased to $30,000 per year (HB 828) . Unlike every other law, Louisiana imposes specific restrictions… [read more]

North Carolina

North Carolina is unlike any other state, in that it has a food program for home processors, yet it does not have laws in place to allow them.  Other states have specific laws in place that override the federal laws that prohibit home-based food sales, but since North Carolina has no such laws, technically their… [read more]

California

California passed their first cottage food law (AB 1616 – The California Homemade Food Act) in 2012, and it went into effect on January 1st, 2013. The law was amended in 2013 (AB 1252) and 2021 (AB 1144 & AB 831). California has two classes of cottage food operations (CFOs): Class A & Class B…. [read more]

Vermont

Vermont was the first state to create laws specifically for home bakers, and they still lead the way as one of the only states to allow almost any food item to be produced and sold from the home.   Like most states, Vermont has a specific Home Bakery license for those that only want to… [read more]

Wisconsin

Wisconsin has two avenues for selling homemade food: this ruling, which allows the sale of nonperishable baked goods, and the pickle bill, which allows the sale of some types of canned goods. Under this ruling, home cooks can only sell nonperishable baked goods directly to anyone in the state, and there is no limit on… [read more]

Live In The Moment with Alisa Woods

Alisa Woods of Des Moines, IA shares how she promotes her home bakery by networking with others, getting TV spots, building Instagram followers, competing in state fairs, and living in the moment

Back To Basics with Lora Friemel

Lora Friemel of Scranton, AR shares how she sells homemade jams, jellies, and other canned goods as a way to support her lifelong dream of running a sustainable homestead for her family

Humble Hearth Bakery

Humble Hearth Bakery specializes in breads, rolls, Brazilian breads and treats, cookies, candies, and other treats. We are proud to be a home bakery and love to serve good food to our local community near Mustang/Yukon/Oklahoma City with ingredients you can pronounce. We understand food allergies (as members of our family including the owner have… [read more]

The Little Sourdough

It’s hard to get a good loaf of sourdough at a reasonable price. We make all types of sourdough items, including: Faithful sourdough loafs Multigrain Whole Grain Herb and cheese Oat Focaccia bread Bagels Pizza dough Our bread is neither artisan nor fancy, but it does taste delicious. We use all natural ingredients and organic… [read more]

Beautiful Chaos with Chelsa Smith

Chelsa Smith of Des Moines, IA sells sourdough bread from her wildly successful home microbakery and shares many of the ups and downs of building her business while finding work-life balance

Men Bake Cookies with Mike Skyring

Mike Skyring of South Lyon, MI shares how he started a gourmet cookie bakery totally by accident, and how he quickly grew it into a very successful business by leveraging many marketing techniques

Anything Is Possible with Emily Vanlandingham

Emily Vanlandingham of New Orleans, LA runs a home bakery that focuses on school celebrations, and shares the triumphs, lessons, and challenges that have come from creating her very unique business

Baking Saved My Life with Christina Marquez

Christina Marquez of Antioch, IL shares how she built a cottage food bakery amidst many life challenges by following her passion, caring deeply about her customers, and focusing on serving others

Serve The People with Lee Thomas

Lee Thomas runs a legal home BBQ business in San Leandro, CA and shares how he leveraged his political connections to help legalize MEHKOs (micro-enterprise home kitchen operations) in his county

Get Passionate About Sales with Amanda Schonberg

Amanda Schonberg of Baton Rouge, LA shares tons of business tips for generating more sales, building a following, managing mindset, improving time, growing an email list, and scaling up a bakery

Vegan Affair Bakery

Vegan Affair, for the Love of Baking! My name is Amanda, I am the owner and sole baker of Vegan Affair Bakery. I operate under Ohio’s Cottage Food Laws, which allow me to bake using my home kitchen. The original “Vegan Affair” called California it’s home, and was the brainchild of my amazingly creative cousin…. [read more]

The Feel Good Factor with Juno Rosales

Juno Rosales shares the incredible story of how she built an international brand by selling her frozen desserts from home in the Philippines before adding a second location in Los Angeles, CA

The Power Of Two with Heather & Corrie Miracle

Twins Heather & Corrie Miracle of Fairfax, VA share the backstory that led them to create their extremely popular Facebook group about marketing for sugar cookiers and other cottage food entrepreneurs

Find Work That Fulfills You with Jenny Berg

Jenny Berg of Bend, OR started baking sourdough bread during the pandemic and shares how she turned her new hobby into a home business that has finally given her a sense of fulfillment in her work.

Rhode Island

In 2022, Rhode Island passed H 7123, becoming the last state to allow all residents to sell homemade food. Prior to 2022, Rhode Island only had their Farm Home Food Manufacture law, which 99.8% of residents couldn’t use. This law allows anyone (not just farmers) to register as a “cottage food manufacturer”, which costs $65… [read more]

Chocolate Is Therapy with Gary Knight

Gary Knight of Gardnerville, NV sells beautiful hand-decorated chocolates that he learned to make while overcoming his alcohol addiction and recovering from a traumatic brain injury.

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.

Missouri

Missouri has two different laws that allow homemade food sales, which combine to create an overall decent cottage food law. Producers can use both laws, if they’d like. Unlike this law, Missouri’s other cottage food law is not available to everyone in the state. But in the counties that do allow it, it allows producers… [read more]

The Competitive Cake Artist with Jewel Burgess

Jewel Burgess of Rancho Cordova, CA shares how she started a cottage food business selling realistic cake sculptures and what she’s learned from participating in four Food Network competitions.

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.

Iowa Home Food Processing Establishment

Unlike most states, Iowa allows home cooks to sell most types of foods, including perishable products. After an update in 2022 (HF 2431), Iowa is the only state to allow products that contain some types of meat and poultry that are purchased. Home food processing establishments can sell their items at any venue, but they… [read more]

Iowa

Iowa has two different laws for home cooks, which combine to form possibly the best cottage food laws in the nation. Iowa has been allowing sales of homemade food for longer than any other state (since at least the 1980s). The cottage food law (described on this page) allows producers to sell almost all types… [read more]

Indiana

In 2022, Indiana passed a greatly improved cottage food law (HB 1149). Prior to 2022, producers could only sell at farmers markets and roadside stands. Under the current law, home-based vendors can sell most types of nonperishable foods directly to consumers within the state, including online sales and in-state shipping. There is no sales limit,… [read more]

Tennessee

In 2022, Tennessee passed a food freedom law (HB 813) which entirely replaced their old law. The food freedom law changed non-potentially hazardous to non- time/temperature control for safety (TCS) food. Non-TCS products do not contain meat, poultry, fish, or whole eggs and do not require refrigeration for safety. These food items can be sold… [read more]

South Dakota

South Dakota first passed a cottage food law in 2010, and amended it in 2011, 2020, & 2022. Producers can sell all types of nonperishable foods, plus some types of foods that most states don’t allow: perishable baked goods, home canned goods, pesto, frozen fruit, etc. However, those selling the latter must follow certain requirements…. [read more]

Mixing It Up with Cassie Menchhofer

Cassie Menchhofer of Celina, OH shares how she took her business to the next level by building an FDA-approved manufacturing facility to sell her dried soup, baking, and spice mixes across the country.

South Carolina

South Carolina first created a cottage food law in 2012, which was amended in 2018 and 2022. Producers can sell both directly to consumers, and indirectly to retail stores. Producers can sell their products online, and can ship them as well. There is no sales limit, and the producer doesn’t need to take a food… [read more]

Cupcakes In Full Bloom with Sarah Thongnopneua

Sarah Thongnopneua lives in San Anselmo, CA and shares how she grew her “bouCAKES” (floral cupcake bouquets) business from her home kitchen into a commercial kitchen & won a Food Network competition.

Can A Product Be Too Good? with Janna Paterno

Janna Paterno of Charleston, WV shares why she wasn’t making money in her custom-decorated cookie business, despite having phenomenal decorating skills and more customers than she could ask for.

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.

Kansas

Kansas has a good cottage food law, even though the rules for selling food are mostly determined by the ag department. Almost all types of nonperishable foods can be sold anywhere directly, including sales in other states. Indirect sales (via restaurants, stores, etc) are not allowed. There are even special rules that allow limited sales… [read more]

Illinois

For many years, Illinois had one of the most restrictive cottage food laws in the nation. Their first cottage food law in 2012 (SB 0840) only allowed cottage food operations to sell certain items at farmers markets. Even though an amendment in 2018 (HB 3063) removed the sales limit and greatly expanded the list of… [read more]

Black Coffee Ranch & Mercantile

Black Coffee Ranch is a family ranch and mercantile servicing central and south-central Montana via drop points. We provide grass-fed meats, raw milk, a variety of honey products, jams and other dry goods.

California Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation

In 2018, California passed a new type of bill (AB 626), which allows for “microenterprise home kitchen operations” (MEHKOs). The law went into effect on January 1st, 2019. Under this first-of-its-kind law, home cooks can start micro-restaurants from home and sell virtually any kind of food. This varies greatly with most cottage food laws that… [read more]

Indiana HB 1149

Greatly expands the cottage food law by allowing all direct sales of almost all nonperishable foods (except acidified canned goods), including online sales and in-state shipping.

Chocolate Plus

I’ve been making chocolate candies for over ten (10) years now, but only for family and friends. Recently I have launched out as a Cottage Food Business, within the past month (Dec ’21) and had my first outdoor market event.  It was a bit nerve-wracking, but exciting at the same time.  Needless to say, it… [read more]

A Little Bit of Joy with Tracy Mancuso

Tracy Mancuso near Medford, OR shares how she built her successful custom cake business from home while raising young kids by leveraging social media and embracing her local community.

Kiminy’s Crickets

Kiminy’s Crickets sells homemade cricket cookies! We make our cookies with cricket powder, which adds protein, nutrients, and a slightly nutty flavor that fits right in! Crickets are a delicious, sustainable, and environmentally-friendly source of protein. We hope that our cricket cookies will play a small part in making the world a better place! Kiminy’s… [read more]

Kentucky

For many years, only Kentucky farmers could sell homemade food, leaving it as one of the last states without a basic cottage food law. But that changed in 2018 when the law was amended (HB 263) to make it available to everyone. With this law, home-based processors can make many types of non-perishable foods and… [read more]

Kentucky Microprocessor

Kentucky’s law for home-based microprocessors is only for those who want to sell acidified foods, low-acid canned goods, or low-sugar jams & jellies. To sell other types of homemade foods, Kentucky has a law for home-based processors, which is much less restrictive than this one. In order to use this law for home-based microprocessors, the producer… [read more]

North Dakota

In 2017, North Dakota passed the country’s second food freedom bill (HB 1433), modeled after Wyoming’s. Unlike most cottage food laws, this food freedom law allows producers to sell any type of food, as long as it doesn’t contain meat. There is one exception: those who raise a small amount of poultry can sell their… [read more]

Do Whatever It Takes with Whitney Singletary

Whitney Singletary of Berkeley, CA shares many of the obstacles she faced to build a successful nut-flavored cookie business from her driveway and eventually grow into a brick-and-mortar storefront.

New Mexico

For many years, New Mexico had the most complex cottage food law of any state. However, in 2021 they passed the Homemade Food Act (HB 177), which greatly improved their law. Now producers can sell most non-perishable foods directly anywhere in the state, and there is no sales limit. Indirect sales (retail stores, restaurants, etc)… [read more]

Montana

Montana first created a cottage food law in 2015, but it was almost entirely replaced in 2021 with the passage of the Montana Local Food Choice Act (SB 199). This “food freedom” law removed almost all restrictions from selling homemade food, and it prevents government agencies from regulating a producer. To sell homemade food, a… [read more]

Montana Cottage Food

In 2015, Montana passed their first cottage food bill (HB 478), which is explained on this page. However, they now have a newer law, the Montana Local Food Choice Act (SB 199), also known as their food freedom law. That law almost entirely replaces this one. The only reason someone would use this cottage food… [read more]

New York

Before 2018, New York had a fairly restrictive law. Unlike other states that pass bills to improve their cottage food law, New York’s ag department improved the law themselves by creating rules, first in 2018 and again in 2020. Homemade food can now be sold anywhere within the state, including selling indirectly to stores and… [read more]

Alabama

Alabama created a cottage food law (SB 159) in 2014. Previously, producers could only sell non-perishable homemade food at farmers markets. In 2021, an amendment (SB 160) greatly expanded the list of allowed foods, removed the sales limit, allowed online sales, and allowed in-state shipping. Alabama allows direct sales of almost any type of non-perishable food,… [read more]

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.

Arkansas

Arkansas created a cottage food law in 2011 (Act 72), and it was amended three times (2017 Act 399, 2019 Act 775, & 2021 Act 306). However, in 2021, Arkansas replaced their cottage food law with the Food Freedom Act (SB 248), and it is now one of the best laws in the country! Under… [read more]

New Jersey

New Jersey has tried to pass countless cottage food bills, but one senator continues to prevent any of them from passing.

Florida

Florida’s cottage food law has improved significantly over time. After passing their first law (HB 7209) in 2011, they have passed three amendments: in 2017 they passed HB 1233, and in 2021 they passed HB 663 & HB 403. Florida now has a good cottage food law, especially since it is very easy for a… [read more]

Family, Freedom, & Pie with Kourtney Rojas

Kourtney Rojas of Anaheim, CA shares her long, organic journey into creating a successful home pie business that helps support her family and gave her the freedom to quit her job.

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.

Bubba’s Bakehouse

Hey Y’all! We are a small home based bakery located in Myrtle Beach, SC. We specialize in Focaccia, which is an Italian bread.

Small Is Beautiful with Eric Sorensen

Eric Sorensen from Pullman, WA shares how he runs a profitable small side business in retirement by selling sourdough bread, bagels, pretzels, cookies, and more from his driveway and farmers markets.

Cedar Fox Mercantile and Bakery, LLC

Cedar Fox Mercantile and Bakery is a newly-established CFO operating under an LLC. I love all things baking, but currently offer breads (yeasted, quick, and natural sourdough), sweet rolls, pastries and drop cookies.

The Resilient Baker with Justina Rucinski

Justina Rucinski from Burlington, IA shares how she resurrected her custom cookie business after being sexually assaulted by a supposed client, and how her experience impacted the cottage food industry.

Blue Finch Bakery

We are excited to help feed our local community fresh breads and pastries here in northwest Tucson, AZ. Blue Finch Bakery launched in 2020 to provide an honest and delicious experience by combining old-world techniques with heritage grains to produce fresh baked goods that are simple, but flavorful.  We offer a rotating menu of sourdough breads… [read more]

Three Melons Bake Shop

I specialize in custom decorated ’boutique’ sugar cookies.  I also offer cupcakes and cakes.

The Hungry Hawaiian Snack Co.

 Komo Mai!  Welcome to your favorite online source for Hawaiian treats, snacks and all your fundraising needs!  Hungry Hawaiian can provide you with mouth watering Island treats you remembered as a child – quick, easy and safe.  Hungry Hawaiian is a Hawaii owned and operated limited liability corporation on the Island of Oahu.  We provide excellent… [read more]

Putting Yourself Out There with Beverly Clutter

Beverly Clutter of Fairmont, WV shares how she organically built her successful side business by showcasing her custom decorated cookies on social media and focusing on serving others in her community.

Kouzeh Bakery

Kouzeh Bakery was established in Los Angeles in 2018 with the goal of introducing the community to the rich diversity of Persian bread. The people of Iran have created a vast variety of bread throughout their long history. From simple flatbreads made by nomadic tribes to sourdough loaves baked in cities and villages for daily consumption,… [read more]

CRUMB

Authentic Sourdough Microbakery

QuasItaliano

Traditional Italian cookies baked fresh to order by a registered Louisville home baker. Biscotti, baci, occhi, anginetti, amaretti and more. See all varieties, prices and promotions listed at Facebook page @quasitaliano. Kitchen contains nuts, gluten, dairy. Cash, Paypal, Venmo, Zelle. Prepay required. Delivery available in Metro Louisville.

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.

Backcountry Herbs

Homegrown and Wildcrafted herbs. Specializing in dried herbs from Eastern Idaho.   The bulk of our herbs are, homegrown and ethically wild-crafted from places in the back-country where most people don’t venture.  We hunt, gather, grow and process all our herbs ourselves with consideration for the best quality, freshness and care for the environment.   Our stock… [read more]

Michigan

Michigan enacted a cottage food law in 2010 (HB 5280), and then amended it once in 2012 (HB 5130) to increase the sales limit. Many types of non-perishable foods are allowed, and producers can sell directly to consumers at most sales venues. It is very easy to start a cottage food business, since no license… [read more]

Dads Can Cake Too with Jeremy Davis

Jeremy Davis from Charlotte, MI runs a lucrative custom-decorated cake business from home while working a full-time job, taking care of his kids, and occasionally appearing on national television.

Bella’s Bakery LLC

Bella’s Bakery is a home based bakery out of East Montpelier, Vermont! A banker by day, and a baker by night, I strive to provide the sweetest treats and tasties to you and your family for any occasion! College care package? Loss of a loved one? Birthday or holiday celebration? I have something for everyone!… [read more]

Maryland

Maryland passed a very restrictive cottage food law (SB 550) in 2012, which limited sales to farmers markets and public events. Then from 2018 – 2020, three amendments significantly improved the law. In 2018, HB 1106 allowed other in-person, direct sales in the state, including mail order sales. In 2019, SB 290 allowed sales at… [read more]

District of Columbia

Washington D.C. started allowing homemade food sales in 2013, with the passage of the “Cottage Food Amendment Act of 2013” (B20-0168). In 2017, the health department added many rules (DCMR Title 25-K), which made it much more complicated and expensive to start a cottage food business. In 2020, the law significantly improved via two amendments…. [read more]

Hurd Stirs by Hurd Creations

We are not an official business, just a family working together to teach our son about entrepreneurship and selling our product at local Farmers Markets. My son leads a small lemonade stand and I handcraft products to sell in conjunction with his endeavors. I only make a few food-based products, but also have other non-edible… [read more]

Creative Ways to Market Cookies with Mallory Dies

Mallory Dies, from Stafford, VA, shares many creative marketing ideas that she learned from selling homemade gourmet cookie sandwiches, and how she developed a significant following on social media.

Crystal Bakes

Welcome to Crystal Bakes! I am a girl who simply loves to bake and making people happy. I’m a proud mom of two beautiful kids who started out just wanting to make my kids birthday cake dreams come true, and well here i am loving what i do.

Maple Cottage Market – delicious home made produce from Virginia

Maple Cottage Market in Culpeper, VA provides delicious home grown and home made produce. Fresh eggs laid daily by The Girls; our flock of 12 hens (Molly, Brenda, Wanda, Poppy, Priscilla, Dottie, Daisy, Gladys, Elsie, Mavis, Blanche and Lula Mae): brown, white, large, medium and bantam eggs available. We also make our own home made… [read more]

Baking A Difference with Kathy Cherie

Whether it’s putting a smile on an ill child’s face, or contacting state legislators to change the law, Kathy Cherie from Elk Grove Village, IL is always baking a difference in her community.

Wyoming

LAW UPDATE Since this page was last updated, Wyoming improved their food freedom law with a new bill (HB 118). As of July 1st, 2021, producers can now sell eggs under the law, and clarifies that there should be as few restrictions as possible for businesses using this law. Wyoming has the best cottage food… [read more]

Sweet Sugars Cookies & Stencils

We are an artisan cottage bakery specializing in decorated butter cookies, cookie cakes, and drop cookies. We also make both traditional plastic and silkscreen culinary stencils.