Maine 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 Maine is the one state in this guide where the first question is not "what does the state say" but "what does my town say". Under the Maine Food Sovereignty Act, a municipality may adopt a local food ordinance governing direct producer-to-consumer transactions, and more than a hundred Maine towns have done exactly that.

So there are two or three answers depending on where you live. A state home food license from the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is the route that works anywhere in Maine. A local food sovereignty ordinance, if your town has one, can exempt direct sales from state licensing altogether. Start by finding out which you are standing in.

Route one: the state home food license

The route that works regardless of your town is a home food license from the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, through its Quality Assurance and Regulations division. It is a license rather than an exemption: you apply, and the state knows who you are.

On the fee and the inspection we are attributing rather than stating. Guides report $20 a year plus a one-time kitchen inspection, and that sales are intrastate only. We could not confirm the fee or the inspection from DACF directly, so treat those two numbers as worth a phone call rather than as settled. The division is the place to ask, and you have to deal with it anyway.

Food safety and home food licensing, Maine DACF

If your product needs refrigeration, or you want to reach customers beyond direct sales, this is usually the route you end up on.

Route two: your town, under the Food Sovereignty Act

The Maine Food Sovereignty Act, at 7 MRSA chapter 8-F, lets a municipality adopt a local food ordinance governing direct producer-to-consumer transactions and traditional foodways. Where a town has one, it can exempt those sales from state licensing and inspection. More than 113 Maine municipalities have adopted one, and towns are still doing it — Buxton passed an ordinance in October 2026.

The statute defines a direct producer-to-consumer transaction broadly. It is an exchange of food directly between a food producer and a consumer:

By barter, trade or purchase;
On property owned, leased or rented by the food producer;
At roadside stands, fundraisers, farmers' markets and community social events;
Or through buying clubs, deliveries, community-supported agriculture programs, herd-share agreements and other private arrangements.

Barter and trade being named in the statute is unusual, and it tells you what this law is for. It is written around a rural food economy rather than around a retail one.

The definition of food or food products is similarly wide: vegetables, fruit, eggs, grain or grain products, herbs, seasonings or spices, milk or milk products, meat or meat products, poultry, fish, seafood, cider or juice, acidified foods, canned fruits or vegetables, honey, nuts, maple products, condiments, and combinations of those "such as baked goods, sandwiches or other meals."

Meals are in the definition. That is not how most cottage food laws in this guide work, and it is the clearest sign that the Food Sovereignty route is a different animal from a shelf-stable-baked-goods exemption.

What changed in 2025, and why it matters to older towns

The Act was amended by PL 2025, c. 309. Three pieces of that are worth knowing:

A new section 284-A, "Application." It says the chapter's provisions "apply to any local food ordinance adopted by a municipality, plantation or county, including those local food ordinances adopted prior to October 31, 2017." If your town passed an ordinance in the first wave, that sentence is about you.
A new definition of "consumer" at section 282, subsection 1-A: an individual who acquires food directly from a food producer of the individual's choosing solely for consumption by the individual or the individual's family.
The definition of "food or food products" was amended by the same act — the version quoted above is the amended one.

There is also a county layer. 30-A MRSA section 7505, amended by the same 2025 act, lets county ordinances govern traditional foodways and direct producer-to-consumer transactions in an unorganized territory within the county where residents opt in.

7 MRSA section 284-A, Application · section 282, Definitions · 30-A MRSA section 7505

One thing we are not going to pretend is settled. Maine amended its constitution to include a right to food, and what that right means in practice is still being worked out in litigation. It is a real part of the Maine picture and it is not a rule you can plan a product around yet.

Labels depend on which route you are on

This is where Maine's structure has a practical cost. There is no single statewide label sentence to print, because what you must put on a package depends on whether you are licensed by the state or selling under a town ordinance — and if it is a town ordinance, on what that ordinance says.

So the label question has to be asked locally. Two calls settle it: your town office, for the ordinance and whether it covers what you make, and DACF, for what a home food license requires.

We would rather tell you to make two calls than print a sentence that is right in one Maine town and wrong in the next.

Sales tax and the first thing to do

Maine taxes prepared food differently from grocery staples, and the line between them is exactly the kind of thing that depends on what you sell and how. Maine Revenue Services and your accountant are the right place for that, not a guide.

The practical first step in Maine is not a form, it is a question. Call your town office and ask whether the town has adopted a local food ordinance under the Maine Food Sovereignty Act, and if so, ask for a copy. That single answer decides which of the routes on this page applies to you, and it is free.

Official sources

Maine Food Sovereignty Act — 7 MRSA chapter 8-F, full chapterMaine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes
7 MRSA section 282, Definitions — as amended by PL 2025, c. 309Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes
7 MRSA section 284-A, Application — enacted by PL 2025, c. 309Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Food safety and home food licensing, Quality Assurance and RegulationsMaine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

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 license to sell food from home in Maine?

It depends on your town. The state route is a home food license from the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, which works anywhere in Maine. But under the Maine Food Sovereignty Act a municipality may adopt a local food ordinance that exempts direct producer-to-consumer sales from state licensing, and more than 113 Maine towns have one. Call your town office first.

How do I find out whether my town has a food ordinance?

Ask your town office whether the town has adopted a local food ordinance under the Maine Food Sovereignty Act, and ask for a copy if it has. That answer decides which rules you live under, and it costs you a phone call. Towns are still adopting them — Buxton passed one in October 2026.

How much can I sell in a year in Maine?

Neither route in this page turns on a dollar figure the way most states do. What limits you is the route: a state home food license has its own conditions, and a town ordinance covers direct producer-to-consumer transactions as that ordinance defines them. Ask DACF about the license and your town office about the ordinance.

Can I sell meals, not just baked goods?

Under the Food Sovereignty Act definition, meals are included. The statute defines food or food products to include combinations "such as baked goods, sandwiches or other meals" in a direct producer-to-consumer transaction. That is unlike most cottage food laws in this guide, which are built around shelf-stable items. Whether it applies to you still depends on your town having an ordinance.

What did the 2025 change do?

PL 2025, c. 309 amended the Food Sovereignty Act. It added a new section 284-A saying the chapter applies to any local food ordinance adopted by a municipality, plantation or county, including ordinances adopted before 31 October 2017; added a definition of "consumer" at section 282, subsection 1-A; amended the definition of "food or food products"; and amended 30-A MRSA section 7505 on county ordinances in unorganized territories.

What does my label have to say?

There is no single statewide sentence, because it depends on your route. If you hold a state home food license, DACF sets what the package carries. If you are selling under a town ordinance, that ordinance does. We would rather send you to two phone calls than print a sentence that is right in one Maine town and wrong in the next.

What about Maine's right to food in the constitution?

Maine amended its constitution to include a right to food, and what that right means in practice is still being worked out in litigation. It is a real part of the Maine picture, but it is not yet a rule you can plan a product around. The home food license and your town's ordinance are the two things that decide what you may do this year.

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