Hawaii homemade 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. Homemade Food Operations are exempt from the requirement of a food establishment permit, and you may use your home kitchen to make a homemade food product to sell directly to consumers or to other retailers. The Department of Health calls the category HMF, and most of what you may make is limited to food that does not need time or temperature control for safety.

Two things make Hawaii more generous than its reputation. You may sell online. And state law lets you wholesale to permitted food establishments that want to resell your product — a route most states in this guide close. What Hawaii does ask is a food safety course and a precise label.

No permit, but the course is required

The rules live in Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 11-50, the Food Safety Code. They were amended under Act 195, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024, effective 24 August 2025, which widened both what you may make and how you may reach customers. If you read an older guide saying Hawaii allows in-person direct sales only, it predates that change.

Food establishment permit: Not required. HMF operations are exempt.
Food safety training: Required. From DOH, or a DOH-approved program.
Approved courses: American National Standards Institute accredited courses meet the requirement.
Sales limit: None stated by the Department of Health.
Kitchen inspection: Not routine — which is what the required label says.

DOH runs in-person classes and publishes a list of accredited online courses. Food safety education, DOH Food Safety Branch

Homemade Food Products — DOH Food Safety Branch fact sheet

What you may make — and the Hawaii-specific exclusions

The rule is built around food that does not require time or temperature control for safety. Within that, DOH gives examples:

Jams and jellies;
Baked goods without custard or cream fillings;
Pickles, kimchi and salsa — plant foods only;
Juice sold direct to the consumer.

Pickled, fermented and acidified foods have a number attached. Only plant foods may be pickled, fermented or acidified as an HMF product, and they must reach a pH of 4.2 or below, or a water activity below 0.88. DOH is explicit that it is the producer's responsibility to make sure the product meets those thresholds. Note that 4.2 is stricter than the 4.6 that most states in this guide use.

Products containing cut tomatoes, such as salsa, are allowed if held at 41°F or below.

What is excluded is specific, and some of it will surprise you:

Dried meats — beef jerky is named;
Seafood — dried aku is named;
Fruits from the melon family — dried melons are named;
Dried tomatoes;
No vacuum packaging;
No canning except jams and jellies.

Dried aku and beef jerky being out is worth saying plainly, because they are among the first things a Hawaii cook thinks of making.

Where you may sell — online and wholesale are both open

DOH answers this directly. You may sell at non-profit and for-profit events — fundraisers, craft fairs, farmers markets and the like — and you may also sell your product online.

And you may wholesale. In DOH's words, state law allows HMF products to be wholesaled to permitted food establishments that wish to resell your product. That puts Hawaii with Ohio, Tennessee and Utah rather than with Alabama, Delaware or Washington, where the shop route is shut.

There are two conditions on the restaurant version of that. If a restaurant will include your product as an ingredient in a menu item, or offer it on its menu, the restaurant must have written disclosure that the product is an HMF, and your HMF label must be available to the restaurant's customer on request. So the disclosure follows the food all the way to the table.

One caution DOH raises itself: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not recognize HMF products as an approved source. That matters if a buyer is subject to federal requirements of its own.

A farmers market may still ask you for a permit — not a DOH food establishment permit, but a Special Event Permit that the event organizer requires. DOH says plainly that organizers may require this, and that it will review and sign off your application even though your product exempts you from a DOH permit.

What has to be on the label

HMF products must be packaged in the way they are to be sold, and the label carries five things:

The statement Made in a home kitchen not routinely inspected by the Department of Health
The common name of the product, or a descriptive name;
An ingredient list if the product is made from two or more ingredients, in descending order of predominance by weight;
The major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame;
Your name and contact information.

Note the allergen list includes sesame. Several states in this guide still print the older list of eight. Hawaii's DOH prints nine.

DOH's own worked example, for a granola, reads: the product name in caps, then "Ingredients:" with the list, then "CONTAINS:" with the allergens, then the home kitchen statement, then the business name, website and email.

Tax and asking DOH directly

Hawaii's general excise tax applies to business activity rather than working like a conventional sales tax, so the rate and who owes it are a question for the Department of Taxation and your accountant, not something this page should flatten into a number.

On the food itself, DOH invites the question. If you are unsure whether a product qualifies as an HMF product, the fact sheet tells you to contact your local Food Safety Branch office — the branch is organized by island. DOH Food Safety Branch

Official sources

Homemade Food Products — fact sheet, HAR chapter 11-50, dated 29 January 2026Hawaii Department of Health, Food Safety Branch
Food Safety Branch — permits, programs and island officesHawaii Department of Health
Food safety education — DOH classes and accredited online coursesHawaii Department of Health, Food Safety Branch

Last verified: 1 November 2026. Every number on this page is linked to the official page it comes from.

Questions people actually ask

Do I need a permit to sell food from home in Hawaii?

No food establishment permit. Homemade Food Operations are exempt from that requirement. You do need food safety training, from the Department of Health or a DOH-approved program — American National Standards Institute accredited courses meet the requirement.

How much can I sell in a year in Hawaii?

The Department of Health's homemade food fact sheet states no sales limit, and we did not confirm one from any official source. If a figure matters to your plan, ask your local Food Safety Branch office rather than trusting a number from a guide.

Can I sell online in Hawaii?

Yes. The Department of Health says so directly: you may sell at non-profit and for-profit events such as fundraisers, craft fairs and farmers markets, and you may also sell your product online. Older guides saying in-person only predate the Act 195 amendments that took effect on 24 August 2025.

Can a restaurant or a store sell my product?

Yes. State law allows HMF products to be wholesaled to permitted food establishments that want to resell them. If a restaurant uses your product as an ingredient in a menu item or offers it on the menu, the restaurant must have written disclosure that the product is an HMF, and your HMF label must be available to its customer on request.

Can I sell beef jerky or dried aku?

No. Dried meats and seafood are both excluded, and the Department of Health names beef jerky and dried aku specifically. Fruits from the melon family and dried tomatoes are also out, there is no vacuum packaging, and no canning except jams and jellies.

What pH does my kimchi or pickles have to reach?

A pH of 4.2 or below, or a water activity below 0.88, and only plant foods may be pickled, fermented or acidified as an HMF product. Note 4.2 is stricter than the 4.6 most states in this guide use. DOH is explicit that meeting the threshold is the producer's responsibility.

What exactly does my label say?

"Made in a home kitchen not routinely inspected by the Department of Health", plus the common or descriptive name of the product, an ingredient list in descending order by weight if there are two or more ingredients, the major allergens — milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame — and your name and contact information.

Other states

Tools

More guides

How to start a home bakeryThe practical order: rules, product, price, photos, packaging, orders, first customers

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