Baked goods are the heart of every cottage food law: bread, cookies, cakes, brownies and fruit pies don't need refrigeration, so home kitchens can sell them. What's left out is the baking that needs the fridge: cheesecake, cream and custard pies, cream cheese frosting, and anything with meat. Michigan allows baked goods that don't need temperature control; Minnesota allows food that isn't potentially hazardous, with registration and training; North Dakota allows sales straight to the customer, refrigerated items frozen and labeled; California lists baked goods without cream, custard or meat fillings. In the example below, a Minnesota baker checks its market list.
The short version
- Breads, cookies, cakes, brownies and fruit pies: cottage foods.
- Cheesecake, cream and custard pies, cream cheese frosting: need the fridge.
- Michigan and North Dakota: direct to the customer.
- Minnesota: a yearly registration and approved training.
- California: baked goods without cream, custard or meat fillings.
- Label every package as your state requires.
- TaroStack keeps each customer's order and each batch's lot. More below.
Baked goods, state by state
| Product | Michigan | Minnesota | North Dakota | California |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild rice bread | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Krumkake and cookies | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Fruit pie | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Cheesecake | No: needs temperature control | No: potentially hazardous | Frozen, with labels | No: not on the list |
What goes on the label is in how to label baked goods for sale, and licenses beyond cottage food in license to sell baked goods.
The rules
| State | Rule |
|---|---|
| Michigan | Food that isn't time/temperature control for safety, including jams, candy, dried fruit, granola, dry mixes, vinegar, dried herbs and baked goods; not meat or poultry, milk products, beverages, salsa, or canned foods other than standardized jams (MCL 289.1105(k)); prepackaged, labeled with the home kitchen statement, sold straight to the consumer (MCL 289.4102) |
| Minnesota | Food that isn't potentially hazardous, and home-canned pickles, vegetables or fruits at pH 4.6 or lower or water activity 0.85 or less; registration every year and approved food safety training (Minn. Stat. 28A.152) |
| North Dakota | No state license for cottage food sold directly to an informed end consumer; foods that need refrigeration labeled with safe handling instructions and as transported and maintained frozen; no uninspected meat, poultry only from the seller's own birds (N.D.C.C. 23-09.5-02) |
| California | Cottage foods are nonpotentially hazardous foods on the approved list, among them baked goods without cream, custard or meat fillings, candy, chocolate-covered nonperishables, dried fruit, dried pasta, granola, herb blends, honey, standardized jams, nut butters, popcorn, vinegar and mustard, roasted coffee and dried tea (HSC 114365.5); Class A sells directly, Class B also through shops and restaurants (HSC 113758) |
This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: a Minnesota market list
North Shore Pantry, the made-up cottage food producer in Two Harbors, Minnesota, I use in these examples, registered with the state and took the approved training. Wild rice bread, krumkake and fruit pies go on the summer market table, each labeled as the law asks. A customer asked for a cheesecake; it needs refrigeration, so it isn't a Minnesota cottage food. The state's rules in full are in minnesota cottage food law.
Get the checker
Download the home baked goods checker. Two sheets: your products, whether each needs refrigeration, is meat or poultry, a milk product, a canned food other than jam, or a drink, and whether it's on California's list; how Michigan's, Minnesota's, North Dakota's and California's cottage food laws treat it fill in; and each state's rules as read for this article. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The rules decide what can be sold. A dozen items, preorders and two markets are where an order goes out wrong, or a batch can't be told from the one before.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each customer's order and each batch's lot, and what each loaf costs.
Orders. Each customer's order goes in for its pickup or market day, with a picking list.
Each batch a lot. A batch of loafs is a batch from its recipe, with its date and lot, and the lot goes on each order it fills.
True cost. Each loaf is costed from its recipe and the batch, at what the ingredients actually cost.
| The job | Paper | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Who gets what on market day | Order sheets | Orders by day |
| Which batch went to which customer | Not recorded | Lots on each order |
| What a loaf costs | A guess | True cost from the recipe and batch |
Orders, recipes and batches are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.