Michigan's cottage food law lets a home kitchen make and sell foods that don't need refrigeration, breads, cookies, shelf-stable pies, fruit jams, candy, granola, roasted coffee, with no license, registration or inspection. Since the update that took effect on March 24, 2026, the limit is $50,000 in gross sales a year, or $75,000 for an operation selling products at $250 or more a unit, and the department can raise both each October 1 for inflation. Sales are still direct to the consumer, never wholesale or on consignment, but now include online and mail order and delivery apps, as long as the buyer can talk with you first and lives in Michigan. Every product is prepackaged and labeled with one exact sentence in 11-point type. In the example below, a Leelanau County baker sorts six products and watches the limit. Below are the rules, the foods, the label, online sales, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- No license, registration or inspection from MDARD, for foods that don't need time or temperature control.
- Make, package, label and store everything in your primary residence.
- Up to $50,000 in gross sales a year; $75,000 if you sell products at $250 or more a unit. MDARD can adjust both each October 1.
- Direct to consumers only: no wholesale, no consignment, no stocking a shop or farm stop.
- Online, mail order and delivery platforms are allowed if the buyer can talk with you first, face to face or by video, and only to buyers in Michigan.
- Label: name and address (or a registration number), product, ingredients, net weight or volume, allergens, and the MDARD statement in 11-point type.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and the year's sales from the orders. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What section 4102 says |
|---|---|
| License | Exempt from the Food Law's licensing and evaluation; adulteration rules still apply |
| Packaging | Prepackaged and properly labeled before sale |
| Sales | Directly from the operation to the consumer; consignment and wholesale prohibited |
| Online and mail order | Allowed, and third-party delivery too, if the consumer can directly interact with you first, in person or by a two-way video meeting |
| Where | Internet, mail order and delivery sales only to consumers in Michigan |
| Sales limit | $50,000 a year, or $75,000 at $250 or more a unit, per person at a residence; MDARD can ask for documentation |
| Inflation | MDARD may adjust the limits by October 1, 2026, and each October 1 after |
| Storage | Only in the primary domestic residence |
| Local rules | Zoning and other local ordinances still apply |
The law is MCL 289.4102, as amended by 2025 PA 51. MDARD's FAQ adds that a farm stop or market can't hold pre-sold cottage food for pickup, and that a market can still require its own vendor license. This is general information, not legal advice.
What you can make
MDARD's one-pager lists what may be considered: breads, muffins and cookies; shelf-stable pies; cakes, including wedding cakes; frosting from shelf-stable ingredients; freeze-dried products from shelf-stable foods; vanilla and other extracts; fruit jams and jellies meeting 21 CFR part 150, in glass jars; vinegars; dry mixes and herbs; dried pasta; popcorn, granola, nuts and chocolate-covered pretzels, strawberries or bananas; roasted coffee; dehydrated fruit and vegetables. Not allowed: custard or cream pies, cheesecake, cream cheese frosting, vegetable or pepper jellies and low-sugar jams, fruit butters, sauces and dressings, fresh pasta, caramel apples, tinctures, and whole categories such as beverages, dairy, meat, fish, pickles, canned produce, pet treats and anything with CBD. Which foods need refrigeration is in TCS foods list.
The label
| Line | What it says |
|---|---|
| Business | Name and address, or name, phone number and MSU Product Center registration number |
| Product | The name of the product |
| Ingredients | In descending order by weight |
| Net quantity | Net weight or net volume |
| Allergens | As federal labeling requires |
| Nutrition | Only if you make a nutritional claim |
| Statement | "Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan department of agriculture and rural development." At least 11-point, in a contrasting color |
Registering with the MSU Product Center, for a one-time fee of no more than $50, lets the label carry a registration number and phone number in place of your home address. How to write the allergen line is in allergen matrix template.
Selling online
The 2026 update opened internet and mail-order sales, and delivery through a delivery app, on one condition: before the sale, the buyer has a chance to talk with you, face to face or in a two-way video meeting. A website checkout with no way to reach you isn't enough. And every one of those sales goes to a buyer in Michigan; a box to Ohio or Indiana isn't allowed.
An example: a Leelanau County baker
Leelanau Loaf, a made-up home baker in Suttons Bay, Michigan, I use in these examples, sells at a summer farmers market and takes online orders with a video call before each first order:
| Product | Allowed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tart cherry pie | Yes | A shelf-stable fruit pie |
| Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting | No | The frosting needs refrigeration |
| Cherry jam | Yes | A fruit jam meeting the federal standard |
| Hot pepper jelly | No | Only fruit jams and jellies |
| Chocolate-covered strawberries | Yes | On MDARD's list |
| Pasties | No | Meat products aren't allowed |
Summer is the season: by September Leelanau Loaf had sold $41,200, 82% of the $50,000 limit, so the last $8,800 has to cover the fall markets and the holiday pie orders, and the baker checks the total every week. A shop in Traverse City asked to stock the jam; Michigan's law prohibits wholesale, so the answer was no. How a home food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business.
Get the checklist
Download the Michigan cottage food checklist. Three sheets: the label, each line the law asks for with a column for yours; products, each with whether it's allowed and why; and sales by month against the $50,000 limit, 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
MDARD can ask in writing for documentation of a year's gross sales, and the limit is close enough that a busy summer reaches it. Market cash, online orders and delivery-app sales in three places make the year's total a guess until it's added up.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and the year's sales from the orders.
Each batch dated. A batch of cherry pies gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and lot labels print with it.
Orders together. Online and market orders are recorded with the lots each customer got, so one recall report shows where a batch went; TaroStack connects to Square for market sales.
The year's sales. Sales come from the orders, so the documentation MDARD can ask for is already there, and every list exports to CSV.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| A batch's date | Written on the box | The batch's lot and dates |
| Where a batch went | Not recorded | Recorded with each order |
| The year's gross sales | Added up when asked | From the records, 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.