Oregon Cottage Food Law 2026: Sales Limit, Mail Sales, and Label Rules

Yes, you can sell baked goods and certain other shelf-stable foods from your home kitchen in Oregon under the Cottage Food Exemption. For 2026, the big rules are simple but specific: no ODA food establishment license, no routine kitchen inspection, a required Oregon food handler card, a $52,700 annual gross sales cap, and labels that use Oregon's exact cottage food disclaimer.

Oregon is more flexible than many states because it allows online, mail, event, home, and retail-store sales within the exemption. The catch is that the product list is not unlimited. Your food must fit one of Oregon's allowed cottage food categories, and you need to keep sales records showing that you remain under the annual cap.

Is Cottage Food Legal in Oregon?

Yes. Cottage food production is legal in Oregon under ORS 616.723 and Oregon Department of Agriculture rules in OAR 603-025-0311 through 603-025-0335. Oregon's law allows qualifying home food producers to sell without an ODA food establishment license or routine inspection, provided their products fit the cottage food list, their annual sales stay under the cap, and each person involved in preparation has an Oregon food handler card.

Oregon distinguishes three pathways for home food entrepreneurs:

• Cottage Food Exemption: The most common path for porch-pickup bakers. No ODA food establishment license, no routine inspection, food handler card required. Sales cap of $52,700 in 2026. Covers the specific shelf-stable product categories listed in OAR 603-025-0320.
• Domestic Kitchen License: A licensed option for producers who want to exceed the cottage food cap or sell certain foods outside the exemption. Requires an ODA inspection and a license fee.
• Farm Direct: A separate pathway for farmers selling food grown and processed on their own agricultural operation. Different rules apply.

This guide covers the Cottage Food Exemption — the no-permit path used by the vast majority of Oregon home bakers.

Contact the Oregon Department of Agriculture Food Safety Program with product eligibility or labeling questions before you start selling.

What Foods Can You Sell?

Oregon cottage food producers may sell only the shelf-stable product categories listed in OAR 603-025-0320. SB 643 expanded Oregon beyond the older baked-goods framework, but the exemption is still a defined list, not open permission to sell every food that seems shelf-stable.

Annual Sales Cap

Oregon's cottage food exemption caps annual gross sales at $52,700 for 2026. This cap is adjusted annually for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for the West region.

Recent history:

• Before January 2024: $20,000 annual cap
• January 1, 2024: SB 643 raised the cap to $50,000
• 2025: CPI adjustment raised the cap to $51,200 (2.4% West region CPI increase)
• 2026: CPI adjustment raised the cap to $52,700 (2.9% West region CPI increase for 12 months ending December 2025)

The cap applies to total gross revenue from all cottage food sales — it is not a per-product or per-channel limit. If you reach the cap before the calendar year ends, you must stop selling under the cottage food exemption until January 1. Continuing to sell beyond the cap takes you outside the exemption and into licensed food processing territory.

Track your gross sales monthly so you know where you stand throughout the year. If you are deciding whether your prices can support a capped cottage food business, the home bakery pricing guide walks through margin math before you scale your menu.

Sales Channels: Where You Can Sell

Oregon allows cottage food sales through home, online, mail, event, and qualified retail channels. That flexibility is one of the state's biggest advantages, but institutional sales remain prohibited.

Permitted sales channels:

• Home sales and porch pickup — selling directly to consumers at your residence
• Farmers markets — one of the most common channels for Oregon cottage food sellers
• Community events, craft fairs, and roadside stands — permitted for direct-to-consumer sales
• Online orders — Oregon explicitly permits online ordering and payment collection
• Mail orders — Oregon's statute and current ODA guidance allow sales through the mail
• Retail stores — permitted if the food is packaged and labeled, the retailer stores and displays it separately, and the retailer uses signage saying the products are homemade and not prepared in an inspected food establishment

What is not permitted:

• Out-of-state sales: Oregon's cottage food exemption applies to foods produced and sold in Oregon. If you want to ship or sell outside Oregon, check the destination state's rules and talk with ODA before offering it.
• Institutional sales: You cannot sell to restaurants, caterers, schools, day care centers, hospitals, nursing homes, correctional facilities, or similar institutions under the exemption.
• Retail sales without the required agreement/display: Retail placement is allowed only when the retailer agrees to separate display and signage requirements and you keep a record of that agreement.

Oregon also requires sales records. For online sales, keep the purchaser's address and contact information; for event sales, record the event location and organizer contact when applicable; for retail sales, keep the retailer's address and point-of-contact information. Records must be kept for three years and made available to ODA on request.

Permit, Registration, and Training Requirements

Oregon's cottage food exemption requires no ODA food establishment license, no ODA cottage food permit, and no routine kitchen inspection. You do not need a commercial kitchen rental or a required registration number to begin selling under the exemption.

The one formal requirement is a food handler card.

Food handler card requirements:

• Issued by the Oregon Health Authority or a local public health department
• Cost: $10
• Valid for 3 years
• Can be completed online via an approved course covering cross-contamination, sanitation, and personal hygiene — typically takes less than an hour
• Each employee involved in preparation must have one
• Cards issued by unapproved providers are not accepted in Oregon

To obtain your food handler card, contact your local county health department or visit the Oregon Health Authority's food handler training information.

Optional: ODA Unique Identification Number

Oregon offers an option that most states do not: if you prefer not to display your full business address on your product labels, you can request a Unique Identification Number (UIN) from the Oregon Department of Agriculture. This number can appear on your labels in place of the address.

• Fee: $25
• Validity: expires June 30 of the year following issuance (annual renewal required)
• Contact ODA's Food Safety Program to request one

This is entirely optional. If you are comfortable listing your address on your labels, the UIN is not needed. If you have privacy concerns about a residential address appearing on every bag you sell at a farmers market or through retail, the UIN is a practical solution.

Label Requirements for Oregon Cottage Food

Every Oregon cottage food product must carry a label with the required OAR 603-025-0325 statement and product information. Oregon's label rules are detailed, and a few elements — phone number, UIN option, retailer wording, and pet disclosure — are easy to miss.

Required label elements:

1. Product name — the name of the food.
2. Ingredient list in descending order by weight or volume — including sub-ingredients of any compound ingredients.
3. Business name for the food establishment.
4. Phone number for the cottage food establishment.
5. Address information — full street address, city, state, and ZIP; city, state, and ZIP if the name and address are listed in a city directory; or an ODA-issued UIN.
6. Net weight or volume of the product, stated in both U.S. and metric units.
7. Major allergen declaration when applicable — declare milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, and sesame when present.
8. The required disclaimer — verbatim, on the principal display panel:

This product is homemade, is not prepared in an inspected food establishment, and must be stored and displayed separately if merchandised by a retailer.

1. Nutrition information if you make a nutrient, health, or other nutrition claim.
2. Pet disclosure if pets are in the residential dwelling — the label must state that pets were present and identify the species.

The required disclaimer must appear on every label of every product. Do not paraphrase it. The ODA publishes the exact required language — copy it as written.

The pet disclosure is unique to Oregon and catches many home bakers off guard. If you have a dog, cat, rabbit, or other pet in the residential dwelling, the label must disclose that pets were present and identify the species. Pets must be kept out of the food preparation area during production regardless.

REQUIRED vs. RECOMMENDED

Common labeling mistakes Oregon bakers make:

• Using outdated disclaimer wording — older guidance and some online templates still show variants like "not inspected by the Oregon Department of Agriculture." The current ODA-required language is: _"This product is homemade, is not prepared in an inspected food establishment, and must be stored and displayed separately if merchandised by a retailer."_
• Dropping the retailer clause from the required disclaimer
• Forgetting the business phone number
• Omitting the pet disclosure when pets are present in the dwelling
• Using a P.O. Box instead of a street address, city-directory listing, or ODA UIN
• Listing "chocolate chips" in the ingredient list instead of unpacking the sub-ingredients from the package
• Forgetting sesame — it became a federally recognized major allergen in January 2023 and must be declared when present

For broader formatting examples, allergen phrasing, and label layout guidance, use the cottage food labeling requirements guide alongside Oregon's official rule text.

Now That You Know the Rules — Here's How to Start Selling

Oregon's cottage food exemption is designed to be low-friction, but the product list, label statement, and record rules still need to be handled before you take orders. Here is the practical order of operations:

1. Get your food handler card. Contact your county health department or the Oregon Health Authority. Maximum $10, takes less than an hour online, valid for three years.
2. Confirm your product list. Verify that everything you plan to sell fits one of the specific OAR 603-025-0320 categories. For any gray-area item, contact ODA before printing labels or taking orders.
3. Draft your labels. Every label needs your product name, ingredients, business name, phone number, address information or UIN, net weight in both U.S. and metric units, allergens when applicable, the required disclaimer, and a pet disclosure if applicable. MyPorch can generate printable Oregon labels with the required disclaimer, phone, UIN/address, allergen, and optional pet-disclosure fields, but you should still compare your final label against OAR 603-025-0325 before printing.
4. Consider the ODA unique ID if you plan to sell at farmers markets or through retail and would prefer your home address not appear on every bag. The $25 annual fee is low compared to the privacy benefit.
5. Set up your ordering system before your first batch. Taking orders through Instagram DMs and texts works until around the fifteenth order a week — after that, tracking becomes a problem. A pre-order system that collects payment in advance, locks your order count before bake day, and stores customer/order records is dramatically more sustainable. For a deeper workflow, read the home bakery pre-order guide. Start your free MyPorch storefront →
6. Track your gross sales and sales records. Keep monthly gross-sales totals against the $52,700 cap, plus the product, quantity, price, sale/shipping date, and channel details ODA may ask to review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Recent Law Changes

March 13, 2026 — Sales Cap Updated

OAR 603-025-0320 was amended to raise the cottage food annual gross sales limit from $51,200 to $52,700 for 2026. ODA based the adjustment on the 2.9% West-region CPI-U increase for the 12 months ending December 2025.

2025 — CPI Adjustment

The annual sales cap was adjusted for inflation to $51,200, reflecting a 2.4% increase in the Consumer Price Index for the West region.

January 1, 2024 — SB 643 (Major Expansion)

Senate Bill 643 substantially rewrote Oregon's cottage food framework effective January 1, 2024:

• Raised the annual sales cap from $20,000 to $50,000
• Expanded the allowed product list beyond baked goods and confections into the specific shelf-stable categories now reflected in OAR 603-025-0320
• Codified that direct-to-user sales may occur from the home, online, through the mail, and at events
• Amended pet policies to allow pets in domestic kitchens provided the label discloses their presence and species, and pets are kept out of food preparation areas during production

_This guide was last reviewed May 19, 2026. Oregon cottage food law should be verified against the official sources listed above before making compliance decisions. Laws change — confirm current requirements with the Oregon Department of Agriculture before your first sale._