A wholesale food license is the state's license for making or handling food that other businesses resell: a grocer, a co-op, a café, a distributor. It comes from the state department of agriculture, sometimes the health department, and covers the kitchen or plant where the food is made, with an inspection. It's the step past cottage food, which in a lot of states stops at selling directly to the person who eats it, and past a retail license, which covers selling to customers at your own counter. Fees in a lot of states rise with sales. Selling to stores also brings FDA facility registration once most of your sales go to businesses, a label that meets the federal rules, and the insurance grocers ask for. Minnesota, the example's state, licenses retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers as food handlers, with fees by gross sales and risk category, and in 2026 moved wholesale and retail licenses to the calendar year: this year's licenses run to December 31, 2026, and renewals are due by January 1, 2027. In the example below, a Duluth broth maker takes its first co-op order. Below are the layers, Minnesota's rules, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- A wholesale food license covers making or handling food that other businesses resell.
- It comes from the state agriculture or health department, for the kitchen or plant, with an inspection.
- Cottage food often stops at direct sales; a retail license covers your own counter.
- Fees in a lot of states rise with sales.
- Add FDA registration once most sales go to businesses, federal labels and insurance.
- Minnesota: a food handler license, $50 to apply, fees by gross sales and risk category.
- Minnesota's wholesale and retail licenses now run January to December; renew by January 1, 2027.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and which stores got it. More below.
The layers
| Layer | Who issues it | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Business name | State | An LLC filing, or an assumed name |
| Sales tax | State revenue department | Registration, and which sales are taxable |
| Wholesale or manufacturing license | State agriculture or health department | For the kitchen or plant, with an inspection |
| FDA facility registration | FDA | Unless most sales go directly to consumers |
| Labels | FDA, 21 CFR part 101 | Name, net quantity, ingredients, allergens, name and place, Nutrition Facts unless exempt |
| Insurance | Insurer | Product liability, which grocers ask for |
What grocers ask of a supplier is in selling to grocery stores requirements, and what they expect on the shelf in minimum remaining shelf life. Every state differs; this is general information, not legal advice.
Minnesota's rules
| Rule | Minnesota Statutes, chapter 28A |
|---|---|
| A license | To manufacture, process, sell, handle or store food, unless an exemption such as cottage food applies (28A.04) |
| Who's a food handler | Sellers to consumers, sellers to other businesses for resale, and processors or manufacturers (28A.05) |
| Applying | A $50 nonrefundable application fee with a new license (28A.04) |
| The term | January 1 to December 31, renewed by January 1 (28A.04) |
| 2026's change | Retail and wholesale licenses issued July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 were renewed by July 1, 2026, for July to December 2026, at half the fee (28A.04) |
| Fees | By last year's gross sales and a high, medium or low risk category (28A.08) |
| One place | Each license covers one place of business (28A.06) |
| Gross sales last year | High risk | Medium | Low |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $50,000 | $285 | $195 | $135 |
| $50,001 to $125,000 | $350 | $260 | $200 |
| $125,001 to $250,000 | $415 | $350 | $265 |
| $250,001 to $500,000 | $520 | $430 | $370 |
| $500,001 to $1,000,000 | $625 | $535 | $475 |
The fees, effective August 1, 2025, are in 28A.08, which also sets late-renewal and no-license penalties; the license term is in 28A.04. Minnesota's cottage food path, which doesn't cover selling to stores, is in Minnesota cottage food law.
An example: a Duluth broth maker
North Shore Broth Co., the made-up bone broth maker in Duluth, Minnesota, I use in these examples, sells frozen beef and chicken broth by subscription and hot cups at its window, about $54,500 a year, and two Duluth co-ops want jars:
| Layer | Status |
|---|---|
| Business name, an LLC | Done, September 2024 |
| Food handler license | Licensed since October 2024, with the $50 application fee |
| July to December 2026 | Renewed June 24, 2026, at half the fee: $175 |
| 2027 | Renew by January 1, 2027: $350, at $50,001 to $125,000 in the high risk category |
| Risk category | To confirm with the department |
| FDA facility registration | To check: if the co-ops grow past the subscriptions |
| Labels | Done: Nutrition Facts added for the co-ops |
| Product liability insurance | Renews September 1, 2027 |
The broth already ran under a food handler license for the subscriptions; selling to the co-ops for resale fits the same license, so the change was labels, insurance and the January renewal on the calendar. The business is in bone broth business plan.
Get the checklist
Download the wholesale food 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
Co-ops want dates on every jar and a recall plan, and the fee depends on last year's gross sales. A checklist doesn't know either.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and which stores got it, and the year's sales.
Each batch a lot. A batch of broth records the bones and vegetables it used, by lot, gets a lot with its best-before date, and lot labels print for the jars.
Where it went. Each co-op's order records the lots it got, so one recall report shows every customer a batch reached.
The year's sales. Sales are kept by product and by customer, so last year's gross sales, and how much went to stores, are in your reports.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The date on a jar | Written by hand | From the batch's lot |
| Which co-op got a batch | Invoices | One recall report |
| Last year's gross sales | Added up in January | Sales reports |
Lots, batches, sales orders and margin reports 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.