Cottage Food Guides
Cottage food laws by state
Source-reviewed starter guides for home bakers checking label, permit, sales-channel, and disclaimer requirements before they start selling.
Popular States
Start with the guides bakers open most often
Useful if you are comparing big home-bakery markets first.
TX
Texas
Texas lets home bakers sell up to $150,000/year, and many operators can still start without a permit. The big 2025 change is that some foods and sales paths now trigger DSHS registration.
- Annual cap
- $150,000
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Online sales
- Wholesale allowed
- State label support
CA
California
California's two-tier cottage food system gives home bakers real flexibility — sell at farmers markets, take online orders, ship within California, and deliver directly. Here's what you need to know to do it legally.
- Annual cap
- Two-tier sales cap
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Online sales
- Wholesale allowed
- State label support
FL
Florida
Florida has one of the more baker-friendly cottage food laws in the country — no state permit, no routine kitchen inspection, direct online sales, and shipping by mail service are all allowed. Here's what you need to know to sell legally.
- Annual cap
- $250,000
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Online sales
- State label support
NY
New York
New York's Home Processor Exemption is one of the broadest home-kitchen frameworks in the country: free registration, no published sales cap, wholesale allowed, and in-state internet sales. Here's what home bakers need to know.
- Annual cap
- No published annual sales cap under the Home Processor Exemption
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Online sales
- Wholesale allowed
- State label support
PA
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania doesn't use a simple cottage-food exemption. Most home bakers operate through the state's inspected Limited Food Establishment system, which brings more paperwork but more flexibility too.
- Annual cap
- No published annual sales cap in current PDA guidance
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Pickup-focused
- Wholesale allowed
- State label support
GA
Georgia
Georgia's 2025 HB 398 removed the old sales cap and state license, opened the door to retail and restaurant sales, and changed the disclosure rules bakers need to follow. Here's what home bakers need to know.
- Annual cap
- No state sales cap under HB 398
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Online sales
- State label support
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Showing 13 of 13 published guides
AL
Alabama
Alabama removed its sales cap in 2021, making it one of the more accessible cottage food states — but it adds three requirements most states skip: state-approved food safety training, county health department registration, and label approval before you sell your first product.
- Annual cap
- $20,000
- Reviewed
- May 21, 2026
- Online sales
- State label support
CA
California
California's two-tier cottage food system gives home bakers real flexibility — sell at farmers markets, take online orders, ship within California, and deliver directly. Here's what you need to know to do it legally.
- Annual cap
- Two-tier sales cap
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Online sales
- Wholesale allowed
- State label support
FL
Florida
Florida has one of the more baker-friendly cottage food laws in the country — no state permit, no routine kitchen inspection, direct online sales, and shipping by mail service are all allowed. Here's what you need to know to sell legally.
- Annual cap
- $250,000
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Online sales
- State label support
GA
Georgia
Georgia's 2025 HB 398 removed the old sales cap and state license, opened the door to retail and restaurant sales, and changed the disclosure rules bakers need to follow. Here's what home bakers need to know.
- Annual cap
- No state sales cap under HB 398
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Online sales
- State label support
ID
Idaho
Idaho replaced its older cottage-food rule with the Idaho Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act, effective March 20, 2026. The new law allows in-state direct sales of homemade shelf-stable and perishable foods with no routine permit, licensing, or inspection requirement, but producers must give a consumer notice, keep transaction records, and stay within Idaho.
- Annual cap
- No annual sales cap
- Reviewed
- May 20, 2026
- Online sales
- State label support
IL
Illinois
Illinois gives home bakers real flexibility: no published sales cap, direct online sales, delivery, and in-state shipping are all on the table. The tradeoff is that registration is annual and every person preparing or packaging product must be a Certified Food Protection Manager.
- Annual cap
- No annual sales cap
- Reviewed
- May 8, 2026
- Online sales
- Wholesale allowed
- State label support
NY
New York
New York's Home Processor Exemption is one of the broadest home-kitchen frameworks in the country: free registration, no published sales cap, wholesale allowed, and in-state internet sales. Here's what home bakers need to know.
- Annual cap
- No published annual sales cap under the Home Processor Exemption
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Online sales
- Wholesale allowed
- State label support
NC
North Carolina
North Carolina home bakers operate under a Home Processor Program — not a formal cottage food law. NCDA&CS approval and a kitchen inspection are required before you sell, and required labels are reviewed during the application process. There is no sales cap once you are approved.
- Annual cap
- No annual sales cap
- Reviewed
- May 11, 2026
- Online sales
- State label support
OH
Ohio
Ohio home bakers face one of the most open cottage food frameworks in the country — no annual revenue cap, no permit, and no kitchen inspection. The main obligation is a compliant label with the required "This product is home produced." disclaimer in 10-point type.
- Annual cap
- No annual sales cap
- Reviewed
- May 10, 2026
- Pickup-focused
- State label support
OR
Oregon
Oregon's cottage food exemption is one of the more flexible home-food laws: no permit, no routine inspection, a $10 food handler card, mail and online sales within Oregon, and a $52,700 annual sales cap for 2026.
- Annual cap
- $52,700
- Reviewed
- May 19, 2026
- Online sales
- State label support
PA
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania doesn't use a simple cottage-food exemption. Most home bakers operate through the state's inspected Limited Food Establishment system, which brings more paperwork but more flexibility too.
- Annual cap
- No published annual sales cap in current PDA guidance
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Pickup-focused
- Wholesale allowed
- State label support
TX
Texas
Texas lets home bakers sell up to $150,000/year, and many operators can still start without a permit. The big 2025 change is that some foods and sales paths now trigger DSHS registration.
- Annual cap
- $150,000
- Reviewed
- May 7, 2026
- Online sales
- Wholesale allowed
- State label support
WA
Washington
Washington home bakers operate under one of the more structured cottage food frameworks in the country — a $355 permit from WSDA, a mandatory kitchen inspection, a $35,000 annual sales cap, and a required disclaimer on every label. The permit process takes 6–8 weeks, so plan ahead before your first batch sale.
- Annual cap
- $35,000
- Reviewed
- May 12, 2026
- Pickup-focused
- State label support