Honey keeps for years on a shelf, which makes it one of the simplest foods to sell from home. California names honey on its approved cottage food list; Michigan covers food that isn't time/temperature control for safety, which honey isn't; Minnesota covers food that isn't potentially hazardous; and North Dakota allows sales straight to the customer without a license. Some states go further and exempt beekeepers selling their own honey from food licensing altogether. What changes the answer is what you add. Raw honey and comb are honey. Infused or hot honey is a processed food that may need a licensed kitchen, and honey with fresh garlic or herbs is a different risk entirely. And the jar still needs a label: the name, net weight and your name and address at the least.
The short version
- Plain honey and comb fit cottage food laws in the four states here.
- California names honey on its approved list.
- Some states exempt beekeepers selling their own honey from licensing.
- Infused or hot honey can be a processed food; check before selling.
- Honey with fresh garlic or herbs is a different risk.
- Label each jar: name, net weight, your name and address.
- TaroStack keeps each harvest's lot and what each jar costs. More below.
Honey, state by state
| Product | Michigan | Minnesota | North Dakota | California |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw wildflower honey | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Comb honey | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Creamed honey | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Honey with fresh garlic | No: needs temperature control | No: potentially hazardous | Frozen, with labels | No: not on the list |
What the jar's label needs is in how to label honey for sale, and the licenses in honey business license.
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 backyard beekeeper in California
Arroyo Seco Apiary, a made-up backyard beekeeper in Pasadena, California, harvested 90 pounds from four hives in its second summer. Honey is on California's approved list, so it registered a Class A cottage food operation with the county and sold 12-ounce jars to neighbors and at a Sunday market, labeled with the name, net weight and its address. A coffee shop asked to sell the jars; that's an indirect sale, which takes a Class B permit, so the beekeeper applied for one before the fall harvest. A customer asked for honey with fresh garlic cloves; that needs refrigeration and isn't on the list, so it stayed a no. Pricing a jar is in how to price honey.
Get the checker
Download the home honey 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
Honey from four hives over a summer is three harvests with three colors and flavors. Without a lot on each jar, the light spring honey and the dark fall honey look the same in the box.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each customer's order and each batch's lot, and what each jar 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 jars is a batch from its recipe, with its date and lot, and the lot goes on each order it fills.
True cost. Each jar 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 jar 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.