A spice business needs the ordinary business layers, a registered name, a sales tax registration, local licenses where required, and then a food path. Dry spice blends are allowed under cottage food laws in a lot of states, so a home kitchen can start with a registration or permit and direct sales. Selling to grocers means a licensed kitchen or a co-packer, and the plant that makes the food registers with FDA as a food facility unless it's a retail food establishment. The label has its own spice rules: spices can be listed as "spice", but paprika, turmeric and saffron are named or listed as "spice and coloring", garlic and onion powder are foods and are named, and sesame is a major food allergen. A blend with salt has sodium, so it doesn't get the Nutrition Facts exemption for foods with no significant nutrients. In the example below, an Illinois seasoning maker moves from a home kitchen to a co-packer. Below are the layers, the label, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Business layers: a business name, sales tax registration, local licenses where required.
- From home: your state's cottage food registration or permit, if it allows spice blends.
- For grocers: a licensed kitchen or a co-packer.
- The plant that makes the food registers with FDA, unless it's a retail food establishment.
- On the label, spices can be "spice"; paprika, turmeric and saffron are named or "spice and coloring".
- Garlic powder, onion powder and salt are named.
- Sesame is a major food allergen.
- No Nutrition Facts if a serving has insignificant amounts of every nutrient; salt brings sodium.
- TaroStack keeps each blend's lot, and which spice lots went into it. More below.
The layers
| Layer | Who issues it | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Business name | State or county | An LLC filing, or an assumed name for a sole proprietor |
| Sales tax | State revenue department | Registration before selling |
| Local business license | City or county | Where one is required |
| Cottage food | State or local health department | Whether your state allows spice blends from home, and its registration, training and sales rules |
| Food permit | State or local health department | For a commercial or shared kitchen |
| FDA food facility registration | FDA | For a plant that makes, packs or holds food, unless it's a retail food establishment; a brand that uses a co-packer and has no facility of its own doesn't register |
FDA registration is in 21 CFR 1.226 and 1.227, explained in FDA food facility registration. How a cottage food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business. Every state and city differs; this is general information, not legal advice.
The label
| Ingredient | How it's listed |
|---|---|
| Spices, such as cumin, oregano, black pepper | "Spice", or by name |
| Paprika, turmeric, saffron | By name, or "spice and coloring" |
| Garlic powder, onion powder, celery powder | By name: they're foods, not spices |
| Salt | "Salt" |
| Sesame seeds | By name, and declared as an allergen |
| Natural flavor | "Natural flavor", or by name |
Spice is defined, and the listing rules set, in 21 CFR 101.22; sesame joined the major food allergens in 21 U.S.C. 321(qq). A food with insignificant amounts of every nutrient needs no Nutrition Facts, if the label makes no nutrition claims (21 CFR 101.9(j)(4)); a rub with salt has sodium, so it checks the nutrition label small business exemption instead. The rest of the label is in food labeling requirements for small business.
An example: from a home kitchen to a co-packer
Sangamon Spice Co., the made-up seasoning maker in Springfield, Illinois, I use in these examples, started with rubs from its home kitchen under Illinois's cottage food law and moved its grocery jars to a co-packer:
| Layer | Status |
|---|---|
| Business name, an LLC | Done, February 2024 |
| Illinois sales tax registration | Done, February 2024 |
| Cottage food registration, county health department, up to $50 | Done March 2, 2026; renews March 2, 2027 |
| Food protection manager certificate, for whoever makes cottage food | Done February 2024; renews February 2029 |
| Market vendor permits | Done, April 2026 |
| FDA facility registration | Not needed: the co-packer's plant registers |
| Ingredient list | Done: paprika named, garlic powder named, "spice" for the rest |
| Allergens | Done: the sesame rub says so |
| Nutrition Facts | To check: the rubs have salt |
| Product liability insurance | Done May 1, 2026; renews May 1, 2027 |
The market rubs stay cottage food, made at home and sold directly; the grocery jars are made by the co-packer, whose plant is licensed and registered. Illinois's rules are in Illinois cottage food law, and the co-packer in spice co-packer.
Get the checklist
Download the spice business 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
Two kitchens, two sets of rules: the market rubs from home and the grocery jars from the co-packer. A grocer's question about a jar has to lead to the right batch, and the right paprika lot, wherever it was made.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each blend's lot, and which spice lots went into it.
Each blend a batch. A batch of rub records the paprika, garlic and salt lots it used, automatically, gets its lot and best-before date, and lot labels print for the jars.
Two places, one list. The co-packer's premises can be a site, with transfers in and out, so stock at home and at the co-packer is counted separately; more than one site is on Standard at $99 a month.
Where it went. Each grocer's order records the lots it got, so one recall report shows every customer a spice lot reached.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which paprika went into a jar | Not recorded | Lots recorded on the batch |
| Rub at the co-packer | Ask them | Stock at their site |
| Which grocers got a lot | Invoices | One recall report |
Lots, recipes and batches are on every plan, from $49 a month; more than one site is on Standard at $99. 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.