Sourdough bread is a cottage food almost everywhere: it's a baked good that doesn't need refrigeration. Michigan allows baked goods that don't need temperature control; Minnesota allows food that isn't potentially hazardous, with a yearly registration and training; North Dakota allows sales straight to the customer; and California's approved list includes baked goods without cream, custard or meat fillings. What changes it is what goes in or on it: a cream cheese filling or a meat filling needs the fridge and isn't a cottage food. In the example below, a California home baker checks its loaves and a sandwich idea.
The short version
- Sourdough bread is a baked good: a cottage food almost everywhere.
- Michigan: allowed, labeled, sold straight to the customer.
- Minnesota: allowed with a yearly registration and training.
- North Dakota: allowed, direct to the customer.
- California: baked goods without cream, custard or meat fillings.
- Sandwiches, cream cheese fillings and meat need a kitchen or another permit.
- TaroStack keeps each customer's order and each batch's lot. More below.
Sourdough, state by state
| Product | Michigan | Minnesota | North Dakota | California |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country sourdough loaf | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Olive and rosemary loaf | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Sourdough with a cream cheese swirl | No: needs temperature control | No: potentially hazardous | Frozen, with labels | No: not on the list |
Pricing a loaf is in how to price sourdough bread, and a micro bakery's year in sourdough business plan.
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 California home bakery
Valley Oak Bakeshop, the made-up home baker in Fresno, California, I use in these examples, started with a Class A registration for market and online sales, then took a Class B permit from the county to sell loaves through a coffee shop. Country and olive loaves are on the approved list as baked goods; a cream cheese swirl loaf and the coffee shop's idea of sandwiches on the bread are not cottage foods. How California's two classes work is in california cottage food law.
Get the checker
Download the home sourdough 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. Preorders, two markets, a coffee shop and subscriptions are where loaves go to the wrong place, and a batch made with a new flour can't be told from last week's.
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.