Cottage food law
Florida cottage food law: what home bakers can sell, and how
Under the Florida cottage food law (section 500.80 of the Florida Statutes), you can bake shelf-stable foods such as breads, cookies, cakes and candies in your home kitchen and sell them directly to consumers without a food permit, as long as your gross sales stay at or under $250,000 a year, every product is prepackaged and labeled with the required statement, and you never sell wholesale. Sales can happen in person, online, or by mail order.
| Topic | Rule in Florida |
|---|---|
| Law | Section 500.80, Florida Statutes |
| Agency | Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Food Safety |
| Annual sales cap | $250,000 in gross sales of cottage food products |
| Allowed foods | Shelf-stable foods: breads, cakes, cookies, pastries, candies, fruit pies, jams and jellies, honey, granola, nuts, dry herbs, pasta, popcorn, vinegars |
| Online and mail order | Allowed; delivery in person, to an event venue, or by mail or commercial carrier |
| Wholesale | Not allowed |
| Permit and fee | No food permit, registration or fee from FDACS |
| Labeling | Prepackaged with name and address, product name, ingredients, net quantity, allergens, and the disclosure statement in at least 10-point type |
| Training | None required by section 500.80 |
| Inspections | Only after a complaint |
| Local rules | Preempted to the state; home-based business conditions still apply |
| Sales tax | Not exempted by the law; check with the Florida Department of Revenue |
Last verified October 11, 2026
This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules change: check them with your state or local authority before you sell.
What the Florida cottage food law allows
A cottage food operation in Florida is a person or group who makes cottage food products in a home kitchen and sells them directly to the people who will eat them. The law exempts these operations from the food permit that a commercial bakery needs from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), which is the agency in charge of cottage food.
The exemption has conditions. You must stay under the sales cap, sell only foods on the approved list, prepackage and label everything, keep products stored on your own premises, and sell only to the final consumer. If you break one of these, you are no longer a cottage food operation and would need a permit like any other food business.
Foods you can sell from a Florida home kitchen
The approved foods are ones that do not need refrigeration to stay safe. FDACS lists these categories:
- Loaf breads, rolls and biscuits
- Cakes, pastries and cookies
- Candies and confections
- Fruit pies and dried fruits
- Jams, jellies and preserves
- Honey
- Dry herbs, seasonings and mixtures
- Homemade pasta
- Cereals, trail mixes and granola
- Coated or uncoated nuts
- Vinegar and flavored vinegars
- Popcorn and popcorn balls
What stays off the list
Anything that needs time and temperature control to stay safe is outside the cottage food exemption. For a baker, that usually means cheesecake, custard and cream pies, cream cheese frosting, whipped cream fillings, fresh fruit toppings and anything with meat. If a product has to live in the fridge, assume it is not a cottage food and check with FDACS before you sell it.
Where and how you can sell
You can sell in person, for example at a farmers market, a craft fair or from home, and you can take orders online or by mail order. Products may be delivered in person, to an event venue, or by the U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier.
Other states have their own rules, so before you ship outside Florida, check with FDACS and with the destination state.
The $250,000 sales cap and the records to keep
Your annual gross sales of cottage food products must not exceed $250,000. The cap counts every sale from every location, no matter the product or how many people work in the operation. Gross means total money taken in, before you subtract ingredients, packaging or your time.
FDACS can ask for written records of your gross sales, so keep a sales log from the first order. A simple log with the date, customer, product, quantity and amount paid is enough to show where you stand.
Florida cottage food labels: the required elements
The disclosure statement must be printed in at least 10-point type in a color that clearly contrasts with the label background. Use the free cottage food label template linked on this page to lay it out once and print it for every batch.
- The name and address of the cottage food operation
- The name of the product
- Ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight
- Net weight or net volume
- Allergen information as required by federal labeling rules
- Nutrition information, only if you make a nutritional claim such as low sugar
- The statement: Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations.
| Label element | What you print |
|---|---|
| Operation name and address | Sunny Oven Bakes, 12 Palm Street, Tampa, FL 33602 |
| Product name | Chocolate chip cookies |
| Ingredients | Wheat flour, chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin), butter (milk), brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt |
| Net weight | Net wt. 12 oz (340 g) |
| Allergens | Contains: wheat, milk, egg, soy |
| Disclosure statement | Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations. |
Local rules, HOAs and taxes
Florida preempts cottage food regulation to the state. Cities and counties cannot ban cottage food operations or regulate how you prepare, store or sell your products. You still have to meet the state's general conditions for home-based businesses, and a homeowners association agreement is a private contract, so read yours.
The cottage food law does not exempt you from tax laws. Whether a given bakery sale is subject to Florida sales tax depends on how it is sold, so check with the Florida Department of Revenue, and ask your city or county whether a local business tax receipt applies to you.
Price for profit, not just under the cap
The cap is generous, so for most home bakers the real limit is margin, not the law. Take an example: a 6-inch buttercream cake uses $9.40 of ingredients, $2.10 of box, board and label, and 2.5 hours of your time. At $20 an hour, labor adds $50, so the cost before overhead is already $61.50. Selling it for $55 because that is what the bakery down the road charges means you lose money on every cake.
Farinu costs each recipe from your ingredients, packaging, sub-recipes like frosting, labor, machines and overhead, then shows the price that meets your target markup. When an ingredient price rises, it tells you which products now sell below your target and what to charge instead. The free plan covers costing for up to 10 recipes and up to 50 custom orders a month with deposits. Team adds a sales log, which doubles as the gross sales record FDACS can ask for, a monthly profit and loss, unlimited orders and stock.
Sources
Questions
- Do I need a license to sell baked goods from home in Florida?
- No food permit, registration or fee is needed from FDACS if you follow section 500.80 and stay at or under $250,000 in yearly gross sales.
- Can I sell cheesecake or cream pies under the Florida cottage food law?
- Generally no. Foods that need refrigeration for safety are not cottage foods. Stick to shelf-stable bakes, or check a specific recipe with the FDACS Division of Food Safety.
- Can I sell my cookies to a local coffee shop?
- No. The law prohibits wholesale sales, so a store or cafe cannot buy your products to resell. You can sell directly to consumers in person, online or by mail order.
- What exactly must the label say?
- Your operation's name and address, the product name, ingredients by weight, net quantity, allergens, and the statement: Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations, in at least 10-point contrasting type.
- Is this legal advice?
- No. This page summarizes the law as checked on the date shown. Rules can change, so confirm anything important with FDACS at 1-800-HELP-FLA or FoodSafety@FDACS.gov.
Related pages
Know your cost before you set your price
Create a free Farinu account to cost up to 10 recipes from your ingredients, packaging, labor and overhead. Upgrade to Team when you want the sales log that tracks you against the cap.