A food distributor license is the state's license for a business that buys food and resells it to other businesses: grocers, restaurants, schools, other distributors. It comes from the state agriculture or health department, often under the same license that covers food manufacturers, and covers each warehouse where food is stored, with inspections of the cold rooms, trucks and records. Distributors that hold food also register with FDA as a food facility. Some foods add rules of their own: meat only from inspected plants, eggs from licensed or exempt producers, and produce and other foods on FDA's Food Traceability List, where FSMA section 204 asks for records at each step; FDA has proposed moving that compliance date to July 20, 2028, and Congress directed it not to enforce the rule before then; FDA says it will comply. Minnesota, the example's state, licenses distributors as food handlers, the same license as retailers and processors, with fees by gross sales and risk category, and in 2026 moved those licenses to the calendar year, with renewals due by January 1, 2027. In the example below, a Mankato food hub renews. Below are the layers, Minnesota's rules, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- A food distributor license covers buying food and reselling it to other businesses.
- It comes from the state agriculture or health department, for each warehouse, with inspections.
- Distributors that hold food register with FDA as a food facility.
- Meat only from inspected plants; eggs from producers the state allows.
- Foods on the Food Traceability List bring FSMA 204 records; FDA has proposed a July 20, 2028 compliance date.
- Minnesota: a food handler license, fees by gross sales and risk category.
- Minnesota's licenses now run January to December; renew by January 1, 2027.
- TaroStack keeps each farm's lot on every case, from receiving to the buyer. More below.
The layers
| Layer | Who issues it | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Business name | State | An LLC or cooperative filing |
| Distributor or wholesale license | State agriculture or health department | Each warehouse, with inspections |
| FDA facility registration | FDA | For a facility that holds food (21 CFR 1.226) |
| Traceability | FDA, FSMA 204 | Records for foods on the Food Traceability List |
| Meat, eggs, dairy | USDA and the state | Sources and licenses of their own |
| Trucks and cold storage | State and FDA | Temperatures held and recorded |
| Insurance | Insurer | Product liability and cargo |
What distributors earn is in distributor margin, and the paperwork that goes with a pallet in bill of lading template. Every state differs; this is general information, not legal advice.
Minnesota's rules
| Rule | Minnesota Statutes, chapter 28A |
|---|---|
| Who's covered | Persons who sell to other businesses for resale, including in job lots; cold storage warehouse operators; processors (28A.05) |
| A license | To sell, handle or store food, for each place of business (28A.04, 28A.06) |
| Applying | A $50 nonrefundable application fee with a new license (28A.04) |
| The term | January 1 to December 31; July 2026 renewals covered July to December 2026 at half the fee (28A.04) |
| Fees | By last year's gross sales and a high, medium or low risk category (28A.08) |
| $500,001 to $1,000,000 | $625 high, $535 medium, $475 low |
| $1,000,001 to $5,000,000 | $1,500 high, $1,425 medium, $1,350 low |
The fees are in 28A.08, and who's covered in 28A.05. Selling your own food to stores is in wholesale food license.
An example: a Mankato food hub
Two Rivers Food Hub, the made-up food hub in Mankato, Minnesota, I use in these examples, buys produce, eggs and frozen meat from about 40 farms and resells them to restaurants, schools and grocers, about $845,000 a year, and washes and cuts vegetables for schools:
| Layer | Status |
|---|---|
| Business name, a cooperative | Done, February 2024 |
| Food handler license | Licensed since April 2024 |
| July to December 2026 | Renewed June 26, 2026, at half the fee: $312.50 |
| 2027 | Renew by January 1, 2027: $625 at $500,001 to $1,000,000, high risk |
| Risk category | To confirm: washing and cutting for schools is processing |
| FDA facility registration | Done April 2024; renewal due by December 31, 2026 |
| Traceability records | Lots and harvest dates kept now, ahead of FDA's proposed July 20, 2028 date |
| Meat and eggs | Meat from inspected plants only; egg sources to check with the state |
| Product liability and cargo insurance | Renews February 1, 2027 |
The hub's sales put it in the $500,001 to $1,000,000 band; growing past $1,000,000 would move the license to $1,500 in the high risk category. The business is in food hub business plan.
Get the checklist
Download the food distributor 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
Forty farms, three kinds of buyer, cut vegetables for schools and a fee based on last year's sales: a checklist doesn't say which farm grew the lettuce in a school's delivery.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each farm's lot on every case, from receiving to the buyer.
Receiving by farm and lot. Each farm's delivery is received with the farm as supplier, its lot and harvest date, and fields of your own such as the temperature on arrival. Cases go out earliest dates first.
Cutting as batches. Washing and cutting is a batch that takes the farm's lettuce off stock and records its lot, so a school's cut lettuce leads back to the field.
Recalls. The lots each buyer got are recorded as they ship, so one recall report shows which schools got a farm's lettuce, and sales by customer give last year's gross sales.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which farm grew this case | A note on the box | Supplier and lot on receipt |
| Cut lettuce for schools | Untraced | A batch recording the farm's lot |
| Which schools got a lot | Search the invoices | One recall report |
Receiving, lots, 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.