Florida cottage food law: selling food from home
General information, not legal advice. Rules change, and counties add their own. Check with your state and county before you start selling.
"Cottage food" is the term most states use for food made in a home kitchen and sold directly to customers. What it covers, and whether your state uses the phrase at all, differs by state.
The short answer
Yes, and Florida makes it easier than most states: no permit from the Department of Agriculture, and a $250,000 annual sales limit. You are exempt from food permitting as long as you follow the cottage food section and stay under that figure.
Florida also writes internet and mail-order sales into the law, and preempts regulation to the state — so a city or county cannot prohibit your cottage food operation. What it does require is the approved food list, a prepackaged product and a label with an exact sentence on it.
What you can and cannot sell
Non-potentially-hazardous food only. FDACS publishes the approved list:
- Loaf breads, rolls, biscuits
- Cakes, pastries, cookies
- Candies and confections
- Honey
- Jams, jellies, preserves
- Fruit pies and dried fruit
- Dry herbs and seasonings
- Homemade pasta
- Cereals, trail mixes, granola
- Coated and uncoated nuts
- Vinegar and flavored vinegars
- Popcorn and popcorn balls
Out: anything needing temperature control — meat, dairy, cut produce, juices. Cheesecake, cream pies and custards are not cottage foods in Florida.
Free samples are allowed, as long as they are prepackaged.
Do you need a permit? No
You may sell "without obtaining a food permit from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services." FDACS, Cottage Foods
The statute puts it as an exemption: a cottage food operation is "exempt from the permitting requirements of s. 500.12" if it complies with the section and keeps annual gross sales of cottage food products at or under $250,000. Fla. Stat. 500.80(1)(a)
No application, no fee, no registration step. Cross the $250,000 line, though, and the exemption goes with it.
How much can you sell, and where
- Annual limit
- $250,000 gross sales of cottage food products.
- Direct to customers
- Yes, in person.
- Online
- Yes — the statute says you may "sell, offer for sale, and accept payment for cottage food products over the Internet or by mail order."
- Delivery
- In person to the consumer, to a specific event venue, or by USPS or a commercial mail delivery service.
- Wholesale
- No. You "may not sell, offer for sale, or deliver cottage food products at wholesale."
- Storage
- You may only sell products stored on the premises of your cottage food operation.
Florida is the one state of these five where shipping is written into the statute rather than left unsaid. That makes a shipped order legal under Florida law — whether your product survives three days in a box is your call, not the state’s.
Can a city or county stop you? No
"The regulation of cottage food operations is preempted to the state." A local government may not prohibit a cottage food operation, and may not regulate how you prepare, process, store or sell cottage food products. Fla. Stat. 500.80(6)
What still applies are the general home-based business conditions in s. 559.955 — the ordinary rules about running any business from a home, not food rules.
What has to be on the label
Only prepackaged, labeled products may be sold. The label needs, per Fla. Stat. 500.80(3):
- the name and address of your cottage food operation;
- the name of the product;
- the ingredients, in descending order of predominance by weight;
- the net weight or net volume;
- allergen information as federal labeling requires;
- nutritional information, if you make a nutritional claim;
- and this statement:
Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations.
That sentence must be in at least 10-point type, in a color that clearly contrasts with the background of the label.
Food safety training
Not required by Florida law. Neither the statute nor the FDACS page asks for a food handler course.
That is what the state requires, not what we would advise. A food handler course is a few hours and costs less than one canceled order, and it is the cheapest insurance a home kitchen can buy.
Sales tax
The exemption from permitting does not relieve a cottage food operation "from any state or federal tax law, rule, regulation or certificate" — FDACS says so directly. Take the question to the Florida Department of Revenue.
Official sources
- Cottage FoodsFlorida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
- Florida Statutes s. 500.80 (2025)The Florida Senate
- TaxesFlorida Department of Revenue
Last verified: 30 October 2026. Every number on this page is linked to the official page it comes from.
Questions people actually ask
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from home in Florida?
No. A cottage food operation is exempt from FDACS food permitting as long as it follows s. 500.80 and keeps annual gross sales of cottage food products at or below $250,000. There is no application and no fee.
How much can I sell before I need a permit?
$250,000 in annual gross sales of cottage food products. Above that the exemption no longer applies and you are into the ordinary food permitting rules.
Can I ship my products to customers?
Yes. Florida’s statute says a cottage food operation may sell and accept payment over the internet or by mail order, and that products may be delivered in person, to an event venue, or by USPS or a commercial mail delivery service.
Can I sell to a shop or a restaurant?
No. Wholesale is prohibited: you may not sell, offer for sale or deliver cottage food products at wholesale. Your sales go to the person who eats the food.
Can my county ban home baking businesses?
No. Regulation of cottage food operations is preempted to the state, and a local government may not prohibit a cottage food operation or regulate how you prepare, store or sell the products. General home-based business rules under s. 559.955 still apply.
Do I need a food handler certificate?
Florida does not require one for a cottage food operation — neither the statute nor the FDACS page asks for it. It is still a few hours and a small fee, and worth doing.
Can I sell cheesecake or anything that needs refrigeration?
No. Florida allows only non-potentially-hazardous foods. Anything requiring temperature control — meat, dairy, cut produce, juices — is outside the cottage food list.
Other states
- GeorgiaNo state license since July 2025 · no revenue cap
- TexasNo permit · $150,000 cap · you must deliver online orders yourself
- CaliforniaCounty registration · $88,878 or $177,756 in 2026
- New YorkFree exemption, up to 16 weeks to be reviewed · no revenue cap · in-state only
- IllinoisRegister locally · no sales cap · online sales and in-state shipping allowed
- North CarolinaHome Processor program · kitchen inspected before you sell · an indoor pet disqualifies the kitchen
- New Jersey$100 permit for 2 years · $50,000 cap · NJ residents only, nothing in the post
- PennsylvaniaLimited Food Establishment · $35 a year · inspected · internet sales included
- ArizonaNo sales cap · refrigerated foods allowed · Arizona only, and TCS goes hand to hand
Tools
- Pricing calculator for home bakersWhat to charge, with your own numbers
- Price list templateFill it in, print it, hand it over — free, nothing saved
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