Maryland lets a cottage food business make foods that don't need refrigeration in a residential kitchen, breads, cookies, cakes, fruit pies, jams and fruit butters, candy, with no license. Since October 1, 2026, the business can earn up to $100,000 a year from cottage food, double the old $50,000, under the 2026 law that became Chapter 320. Sales go directly to consumers, from home, at farmers markets and public events, by personal or mail delivery, all within Maryland, and, after the Department of Health reviews your label and food safety course, to retail food stores such as grocery stores and co-ops. Every product is prepackaged and labeled with a 10-point statement; labels for stores add a phone, email and the date made. In the example below, a Talbot County baker sorts six products. Below are the rules, the foods, selling to stores, the label, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- No license for a cottage food business; county and city laws still apply.
- Foods that don't need refrigeration; some icings and moist quick breads need a lab test first.
- Up to $100,000 in annual revenue from cottage food, since October 1, 2026.
- Sell from home, at farmers markets and public events, by personal delivery or mail, inside Maryland.
- Selling to a retail food store: send MDH the ID and Retail Sales Request Form, your label, and a food safety course certificate from the past three years, and wait for written approval.
- Label: name and address or MDH ID number, product, ingredients, net weight, allergens, and "Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland's food safety regulations".
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and its date, and which stores it went to. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What MDH's guidelines and the law say |
|---|---|
| Cottage food business | Produces or packages cottage food in a residential kitchen in Maryland |
| Limit | Annual revenue from cottage food of no more than $100,000, from October 1, 2026 (previously $50,000) |
| License | Not licensed; must follow county and municipal laws |
| Sales | Directly to consumers from a residence, at a farmers market or public event, by personal delivery or mail; or to a retail food store |
| Where | In Maryland only; interstate sales are prohibited |
| Stores | Only after MDH approves your label and food safety course in writing |
| Packaging | Prepackaged and labeled at the cottage food business |
MDH's Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses (November 2025) set out the foods and labels; the new limit comes from HB 535 of 2026, Chapter 320, effective October 1, 2026. The guidelines were written before it and still say $50,000. This is general information, not legal advice.
What you can make
| Allowed | Not allowed |
|---|---|
| Breads, biscuits, tortillas, muffins, cakes, cupcakes | Meringue, pecan, pumpkin, cream and custard pies; cheesecake |
| Pies, turnovers and tarts from fruit with a natural pH of 4.6 or less | Cakes and pastries with cream cheese or buttercream icings or fillings, unless tested |
| Jams, jellies and preserves from acidic fruit; fruit butters from apple, apricot, grape, peach, plum, prune, quince | Pickles, relishes, salsa, pepper jelly, barbecue sauce, mustard |
| Candy that doesn't need refrigeration | Meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, dairy, beverages, garlic in oil |
Icings with milk, butter or cream cheese, moist quick breads like banana, pumpkin and zucchini, and baked goods with alcohol added after baking may qualify with a lab test showing water activity of 0.85 or less or pH of 4.6 or less. Which foods need refrigeration is in TCS foods list.
Selling to stores
Before the first sale to a grocery store, convenience store, retail market, bakery or food co-op, send MDH the ID and Retail Sales Request Form with the label you'll use and proof that the owner passed an approved basic food safety course in the past three years. You can't sell to the store until MDH tells you in writing that you're cleared. Store labels add your phone number, email address and the date the product was made.
The label
| Line | What it says |
|---|---|
| Business | Name and address, or MDH's unique ID number with your name and phone |
| Product | The name of the product |
| Ingredients | With sub-ingredients, in descending order by weight |
| Net quantity | Net weight, count or volume |
| Allergens | As federal labeling requires |
| Statement | "Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland's food safety regulations" in 10-point or larger, contrasting type |
| For stores | Also your phone, email and the date made |
How to work out the allergens in a recipe is in allergen matrix template.
An example: a Talbot County baker
Chesapeake Crumb, a made-up cottage food business in Easton, Maryland, I use in these examples, sells at a farmers market, mails orders around the state, and stocks a food co-op:
| Product | Allowed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Peach jam | Yes | Acidic fruit |
| Sourdough for the co-op | Yes | After MDH's written approval |
| Banana bread | Test first | Moist quick bread |
| Smith Island cake | Test first | The icing may need a lab test |
| Pecan pie | No | On MDH's not-allowed list |
| Crab cakes | No | Shellfish |
By September Chesapeake Crumb had sold $46,000, 92% of the old $50,000 limit, with the holidays still ahead. The new $100,000 took effect on October 1, so the fall season stays inside the law. How a home food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business.
Get the checklist
Download the Maryland cottage food checklist. Three sheets: the label, each line with a column for yours; products, each with whether it's allowed and why; and sales by month against $100,000, red past 90%. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Store labels carry the date each product was made, the co-op wants to know which batch it got, and the year's revenue has to stay under the limit. Market, mail and store sales in three places make all three slow to answer.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and its date, and which stores it went to.
Each batch dated. A batch of jam gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and lot labels print with them, so the date made on a store label comes from the batch.
Stores as customers. The co-op is a customer with its own orders, and each order records the lots it got, so one recall report shows every store and customer a batch reached.
The year's revenue. Market, mailed and co-op orders sit together, with Square connected for market sales, so the total against $100,000 comes from the records; every list exports to CSV.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The date made | Handwritten | From the batch's lot |
| Which batch the co-op got | Not recorded | Recorded with each order |
| The year's revenue | Added up by hand | From the orders, exported to CSV |
Lots, batches, orders and lot labels 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.