Rhode Island has allowed cottage food since November 2022, under R.I. Gen. Laws 21-27-6.2. A home baker registers as a Cottage Food Manufacture with the Department of Health: a $65 registration, proof of food safety training, a notarized affidavit that the kitchen meets the requirements, a sketch of the property, and a list of products with their labels. The foods are narrow: baked goods that don't need refrigeration, breads, cookies, brownies, muffins, cakes, fruit pies. Sales go directly to consumers, by pickup or delivery within Rhode Island, under $50,000 in gross sales a year; never to stores, restaurants, schools or day cares. Selling at a farmers market or festival also takes a retail food peddler license. Every product carries a label with a set statement. In the example below, a Woonsocket baker sorts six products. Below are the rules, the label, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Register with RIDOH as a Cottage Food Manufacture: $65, with food safety training, a notarized kitchen affidavit, a property sketch, and your products and labels.
- Only baked goods that don't need refrigeration; frosting refrigerated for quality, not safety, is allowed.
- Under $50,000 in gross sales a year.
- Sell directly to consumers by pickup or delivery within Rhode Island.
- Not to grocery stores, restaurants, long-term care, group homes, day cares or schools.
- Farmers markets and festivals need a retail food peddler license too.
- Label: business name, address, phone, ingredients, allergens, and "Made by a Cottage Food Business Registrant That is Not Subject to Routine Government Food Safety Inspection."
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and the year's sales against $50,000. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What RIDOH says |
|---|---|
| Registration | Application, $65 fee, notarized affidavit of kitchen compliance, property sketch, product list and labels |
| Training | A food safety manager course, an ANSI food handler course, or another RIDOH-approved course |
| Kitchen | In a home, meeting minimum housing standards; a self-closing door on a bathroom that opens into the kitchen |
| Water | A private well tested every year for total coliform, E. coli and nitrates |
| Foods | Baked goods that don't need refrigeration or time/temperature control |
| Limit | Under $50,000 in annual gross sales |
| Selling | Directly to consumers by pickup or delivery within the state, by you or your designee |
| Not allowed | Resellers such as grocery stores and restaurants; long-term care, group homes, day cares, schools |
| Markets and events | A retail food peddler license, renewed yearly, covering all markets and events |
RIDOH's cottage food FAQ and cottage foods page explain the program, and the application lists what to send. Farms have a separate route, the farm home food manufacturer license under 21-27-6.1. This is general information, not legal advice.
What you can make
Double-crust pies and single-crust fruit pies; yeast breads; biscuits, brownies, cookies and muffins; cakes that don't need refrigeration. Frosting that's refrigerated for quality rather than safety is allowed. For anything else, RIDOH's Center for Food Protection answers questions. Which foods need refrigeration for safety is in TCS foods list.
The label
| Line | What it says |
|---|---|
| Business | Business name, address and telephone number |
| Ingredients | In descending order by weight or volume |
| Allergens | As federal and state labeling requires |
| Statement | "Made by a Cottage Food Business Registrant That is Not Subject to Routine Government Food Safety Inspection." At least 10-point, clear and conspicuous |
How to work out the allergens in a recipe is in allergen matrix template.
An example: a Woonsocket baker
Blackstone Valley Bakehouse, a made-up cottage food registrant in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, I use in these examples, takes orders for pickup and delivery and sells at a farmers market with a peddler license:
| Product | Allowed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee cake | Yes | A shelf-stable baked good |
| Double-crust apple pie | Yes | Fruit pies |
| Cupcakes with buttercream | Yes | Frosting refrigerated for quality is allowed |
| Strawberry jam | No | Cottage food is baked goods only |
| Cream-filled zeppole | No | Needs refrigeration |
| Cookies for a coffee shop | No | No resellers |
By September Blackstone Valley had sold $31,000, 62% of the $50,000, with the holiday order season ahead. How a home food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business.
Get the checklist
Download the Rhode Island 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 $50,000, 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
Pickup orders, deliveries and market days add up toward $50,000, and the holidays bring the biggest weeks. Three channels in a notebook make the running total, and which batch went to which customer, slow to find.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and the year's sales against $50,000.
Each batch dated. A batch of pies gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and lot labels print with it.
Orders together. Pickup, delivery and market orders record 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. The total against $50,000 comes from the orders, 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 |
| Who got a batch | Not recorded | One recall report |
| The year's gross sales | 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.