Chocolate is candy, and candy is a cottage food: bars, bark, clusters and chocolate-dipped pretzels or dried fruit keep at room temperature. Michigan allows candy; California's approved list includes candy and chocolate-covered nonperishable foods; Minnesota allows food that isn't potentially hazardous, registered and trained; and North Dakota allows sales straight to the customer. The exceptions are confections made with fresh cream that need the fridge, such as some ganache truffles, and chocolate-covered strawberries, a fresh fruit dipped and sold within a day, which California's list doesn't include. In the example below, a North Dakota home chocolate maker sorts its holiday line.
The short version
- Chocolate is candy: a cottage food in all four states here.
- Bars, bark, clusters and dipped pretzels: allowed.
- California lists chocolate-covered nonperishable foods.
- Fresh cream truffles and dipped strawberries that need the fridge: not cottage foods.
- North Dakota allows refrigerated items frozen and labeled.
- Milk, nuts and soy lecithin go on the label.
- TaroStack keeps each customer's order and each batch's lot. More below.
Chocolate, state by state
| Product | Michigan | Minnesota | North Dakota | California |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark chocolate bark with almonds | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Chocolate-dipped pretzels | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Fresh cream ganache truffles | No: needs temperature control | No: potentially hazardous | Frozen, with labels | No: not on the list |
| Chocolate-covered strawberries | No: needs temperature control | No: potentially hazardous | Frozen, with labels | No: not on the list |
The business beyond home is in chocolate business plan, and boxes and labels in how to package chocolate for sale.
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 North Dakota holiday table
Red River Cocoa, a made-up home chocolate maker in Fargo, North Dakota, sells almond bark and dipped pretzels at a December market, labeled with the home kitchen statement North Dakota requires. Its ganache truffles, made with fresh cream, are kept frozen and labeled with safe handling instructions, as North Dakota allows for foods that need refrigeration. What the label has to say about the chocolate itself is in chocolate labeling requirements.
Get the checker
Download the home chocolate 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 holiday rush, four products, and a customer asking whether the bark touched peanuts are where a batch record pays for itself.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each customer's order and each batch's lot, and what each box 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 boxs is a batch from its recipe, with its date and lot, and the lot goes on each order it fills.
True cost. Each box 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 box 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.