Starting a Cottage Food Business
Do all your friends tell you that you should start selling your baked goods? Do you make really fantastic cookies, but you have no idea how to start selling them? I was in the same boat until my life took me in a direction that set me up to know exactly how to start a Cottage Food Operation as well as how to start any type of food business.
Before I started Frosted by Laura Finley, I was a health inspector for a county health department in Montana. As a health inspector I reviewed applications for retail and wholesale food establishments, as well as cottage food operations. When I realized that being a health inspector wasn’t working for me, I left the health department and opening a cottage food operation. Having the experience of reviewing applications set me up for not only starting my own food business, but also set me up to have the knowledge and experience I needed to help others start their own food businesses.
What you need to know first is that anytime that you are going to serve food to the public - emphasis on public - you are required to have some sort of licensing from the health department. It doesn’t matter if you are giving it away or selling it, the risk to public health is the same and therefore the regulations apply regardless of financial gain.
There are different types of licenses that you can apply for and each has different regulations. Cottage Food Registrations are a great place to start if you are going to make products that are allowable under Cottage Food Regulations. Different states have varying requirements, but in general, if you are going to operate on the CFO regulations then you need to make sure that each of your products is shelf stable. Shelf stable means in essence that the products you are making do not require refrigeration for safety or in other words are not foods that require time and temperature control for safety (TCS).
Examples of foods that are allowable under most Cottage Food Laws:
Cakes
Pastries or Scones
Cookies or Bars
Crackers
Granola
Nuts and Nut Mixes
Pie ( Except custard style pies, pies with fresh fruit that is unbaked or pies that require refrigeration after baking)
Dried Fruits
Fudge
Honey
Examples of foods that are not allowable under most Cottage Food Laws:
Some or all types of buttercream frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Salsa
Custard or fruit based pies that require refrigeration for safety.
Fermented Foods such as Kimchi
Dairy Products and Eggs
Pumpkin Pies
Prepared Meals that require refrigeration for safety.
Breakfast Burritos
Anything that requires refrigeration for safe.
If you have questions about whether or not the products you want to sell are allowable under Cottage Food Laws send us a message and we can help you figure it out. If you aren’t in Montana and need further guidance on where to find your state’s information again reach out and we will help you out.
Once you know if the foods you want to sell are allowable under your state’s Cottage Food Laws you will want to fill out your state’s application.
In Montana, you can find that application here: https://dphhs.mt.gov/assets/publichealth/FCS/CottageFood/cottagefoodregistrationfillable2020Dec.pdf
You can also find answers to Frequently Asked Questions here: https://dphhs.mt.gov/assets/publichealth/FCS/CottageFood/cottagefoodfrequentlyaskedquestions.pdf
Check out our Member Area for additional tools on starting a Cottage Food as well as super helpful information pertaining to running any food business!
As always we are available to help you along the way. Stay tuned for more helpful information regarding Cottage Food Laws and check out our YouTube Channel to start learning about some food safety information that will help you along your journey to becoming an entrepreneur and business owner.