Roasting coffee to sell is food processing, so the license is a food processing or food establishment permit from the state or local health or agriculture department, for the roastery where you roast. Roasted whole beans are a low-risk, shelf-stable food, so some states let you start at home: cottage food laws in some states list roasted coffee beans, Utah's among them. A roastery that sells to cafés and shops registers with FDA and keeps a food safety plan, or a qualified facility's lighter version; the bags carry the food label, with an ingredient list on flavored coffees. Some places add an air permit for the roaster's smoke. And where the coffee comes from can carry its own law: Hawaii, the example's state, regulates every bag that names a Hawaii origin, and on July 1, 2027 the minimum for a blend that names Kona or any other Hawaii origin rises from 10% to 51%. In the example below, an Oʻahu roaster sorts its licenses. Below are the layers, Hawaii's coffee rules, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Roasting to sell is food processing: a food permit for the roastery.
- Some cottage food laws list roasted coffee beans, Utah's among them.
- FDA registration for a roastery selling to cafés and shops, and a food safety plan.
- The food label, with ingredients on flavored coffees.
- Some places want an air permit for the roaster.
- Hawaii: a blend that names a Hawaii origin needs 10% of it now, 51% from July 1, 2027.
- Hawaii roasters keep records of each origin bought, sold and used for 2 years.
- TaroStack keeps green lots by origin and each roast's lots. More below.
The layers
| Layer | Who issues it | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Business name and tax license | State and city | The ordinary business layers |
| Food permit | State or local health or agriculture department | For the roastery |
| Cottage food | State | Whether roasted coffee is allowed from home |
| FDA facility registration | FDA | Unless you sell mostly to consumers directly |
| Food safety plan | FDA, 21 CFR part 117 | Preventive controls, or a qualified facility's modified requirements |
| Air permit | Air quality agency | Where roasters need one |
| Labels | FDA, 21 CFR part 101 | Name, net weight, name and place; ingredients on flavored coffee |
Utah's cottage food list, roasted coffee beans included, is on UDAF's cottage food page. Every state differs; this is general information, not legal advice.
Hawaii's coffee rules
| Rule | HRS 486-120.6 |
|---|---|
| 100% one origin | "Kona Coffee" or "100% Kona Coffee" only when every bean is from Kona |
| Blends | The percent of one Hawaii origin, the origin, then "Coffee Blend", as in "10% Kona Coffee Blend" |
| The minimum | At least 10% of a named origin until June 30, 2027; at least 51% from July 1, 2027 |
| Contains list | "Contains:" each origin with its percent, largest first, below the identity statement |
| "All Hawaiian" | Only when every bean is Hawaii-grown and Hawaii-processed |
| Green bean grade | Beans named by origin meet the grade standards in chapter 147's rules |
| Records | Volume and origin of the coffee bought, sold and used, kept 2 years |
The law is HRS 486-120.6, and how the hazards are handled in coffee roasting HACCP plan.
An example: an Oʻahu roaster
Pali Roasting Co., the made-up roastery on Oʻahu I use in these examples, roasts single-origin coffees and a Kona blend on a 2 kg roaster in a shared roastery, for home brewers and two cafés:
| Layer | Status |
|---|---|
| Trade name and general excise tax license | Done, February 2024 |
| Food establishment permit | To check: whether the shared roastery's permit covers its roasting |
| FDA facility registration | Done March 2024; renewal due by December 31, 2026 |
| Food safety plan | Done October 2025, with the destoner and magnet checks |
| "10% Kona Coffee Blend" | Legal until June 30, 2027; from July 1, 2027 it needs 51% Kona or a name without Kona |
| Contains list | "Contains: 90% Foreign-grown Coffee, 10% Kona" |
| Origin records | Each green lot's origin and pounds, roasts and sales, kept 2 years |
| Single-origin Kona | "100% Kona Coffee": every bean from Kona |
| Product liability insurance | Done February 1, 2026; renews February 1, 2027 |
The blend decision has a cost: at 51% Kona the green coffee in each bag costs far more than at 10%, so the roaster is pricing both a 51% blend and an "Island Blend" with no origin on the label before the deadline. The roast loss behind those prices is in roast loss and cost per bag, and the business in coffee roasting business plan.
Get the checklist
Download the coffee roasting license checklist. One sheet: each layer, who issues it, what it is, whether you need it, the cost, the date done and the renewal date; the status and the total cost fill in. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Hawaii's law asks for two years of records on every origin's pounds, bought, roasted and sold, and a blend that has to prove its percent. A checklist says you keep them; it doesn't keep them.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps green coffee by lot and origin, and each roast's lots.
Green lots by origin. Each green coffee is received with its lot and supplier, and the origin in a field of your own.
Each roast and blend a batch. A blend is a recipe with its percents, and each roast takes its green coffee off stock by lot and records the lots it consumed, so the Kona in a blend batch is on record.
Records that keep. Every receipt, batch and sale is a permanent record with who, when and why, searchable years later, and each café's order records the lots it got.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Pounds of Kona bought and used | Added up from receipts | Lots received and consumed |
| The Kona in a blend batch | A note on the bag | The lots on its batch |
| Which cafés got a roast | Search the invoices | One recall report |
Lots, recipes, batches and recalls 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.