Candy is one of the easiest foods to sell from home, because most of it is shelf-stable: hard candy, brittle, toffee, caramels, fudge in a lot of states, cotton candy, and lately freeze-dried candy. Under your state's cottage food law you may need nothing more than the right label, or a registration with food safety training, plus the ordinary business layers, a name, a city license and sales tax. The limits are in the details: cream-based chocolates, ganache and truffles, and chocolate-covered fresh fruit need refrigeration and fall outside most cottage food laws; selling to a shop for resale is allowed in some states and not others; and cottage food often has to stay inside the state, which matters once the online orders start. Utah, the example's state, names hard candies, freeze-dried candies and cotton candy on its cottage food list, excludes cream-based chocolates, allows sales to stores for resale under registration, and keeps it all within Utah. In the example below, a Utah freeze-dried candy maker sorts its licenses. Below are the layers, Utah's rules, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Most candy is shelf-stable, so cottage food laws cover it.
- You may need only the label, or a registration with training, plus a name, city license and sales tax.
- Cream-based chocolates and chocolate-covered fresh fruit fall outside most cottage food laws.
- Selling to shops for resale is allowed in some states, not others.
- Cottage food often stays inside the state, online orders included.
- Utah: hard, freeze-dried and cotton candy on the list; ganache and truffles off it.
- Utah: registration allows shops; everything stays within Utah.
- TaroStack keeps every run as a batch with its lot. More below.
The layers
| Layer | Who issues it | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Business name | State | An LLC filing, or a DBA |
| City business license | City or county | Home business rules |
| Sales tax | State revenue department | Registration |
| Cottage food | State agriculture or health department | Which candies, registration, training, where you can sell |
| Label | State | The cottage food statement, ingredients, allergens, net quantity |
| A licensed kitchen | State or local health department | For truffles, chocolate-covered fruit, or sales past cottage food limits |
How to start is in how to start a candy business, and the packaging in how to package candy for sale. Every state differs; this is general information, not legal advice.
Utah's rules
| Rule | Utah Department of Agriculture and Food |
|---|---|
| Candy allowed | Hard candies, freeze-dried candies and cotton candy |
| Not allowed | Cream-based chocolates such as ganache and truffles |
| Nuts and fruit | Nut brittles, candied and chocolate-covered nuts; chocolate-covered dried fruit from acidic fruits |
| Before selling | A food handler permit, an inspection and registration |
| Who can buy | Consumers directly, or stores for resale |
| Where | Within Utah only |
| Label | Name, ingredients, net quantity, allergens, business name and contact, "Home Produced" |
| The other path | The Homemade Food Act: no registration, but in person to the end consumer only, never for resale |
The list is on UDAF's cottage food page, and the other path on its Homemade Food Act page. More on both in Utah cottage food law.
An example: a Utah freeze-dried candy maker
Frost Moon Treats, the made-up freeze-dried products maker in Utah I use in these examples, freeze-dries candy and strawberries in two machines, for markets, online orders and gift shops:
| Layer | Status |
|---|---|
| Business name, an LLC | Done, January 2025 |
| City business license | Renewed January 10, 2026; renews January 10, 2027 |
| Food handler permit | Done January 2025; renews January 2028 |
| Cottage food registration | Done, February 2025: freeze-dried candy and strawberries |
| Label | "Home Produced", with ingredients and allergens |
| Gift shops | Allowed under registration, for resale |
| Online orders from other states | Declined: cottage food stays within Utah |
| Sales tax license | Done, January 2025 |
| Product liability insurance | Renews March 1, 2027 |
The out-of-state orders are the ones that hurt: the website now ships only to Utah addresses, and selling nationally would mean moving production to a licensed kitchen. What the bags earn is in freeze-dried candy business plan.
Get the checklist
Download the license to sell candy 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
Two machines running day and night, bags for markets, cases for ten gift shops and gift boxes in December: a checklist doesn't say which run a bag came from.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps every run as a batch with its lot.
Runs as batches. Each product is a recipe, candy by weight, bags and labels by the unit. Recording a run takes them off stock from the lots used, divides by the bags that came out good, and puts them into a lot with its best-by date.
Gift boxes from the bags you've made. A gift box can be a kit: when it ships, each bag inside is picked from its own lot.
Where it went. Each gift shop's order records the lots it got, so one recall report shows every customer a run reached.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which run did this bag come from? | Unknown | Its lot, from the run |
| What's in this gift box? | A list, maybe | Each bag's lot, picked when it ships |
| Which shops got a run | Invoices | One recall report |
Batches, lots, kits 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.