Selling food from home in Massachusetts
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 the permit comes from your city or town, not from the state. A home food business selling direct to consumers is permitted as a Retail Residential Kitchen, inspected and permitted by the local board of health where the kitchen is.
The state is explicit that selling online is part of what "direct to the consumer" means: "'Direct to the consumer' includes events like farmers markets, craft fairs, and sales by internet or mail." That is a wider door than Washington, which allows the online sale but forbids shipping, and than Michigan, which allows it only where the customer could reach the producer first.
The permit is local — start with your board of health
- What you need
- A Retail Residential Kitchen permit, under the Retail Food Code (105 CMR 590).
- Who issues it
- The local board of health in the city or town where the kitchen is. These operations are permitted as cottage food operations.
- Who inspects
- The same local board of health.
- Fee
- No state fee is stated — the permit is local, so the cost is set where you live. Ask your own board of health.
- Zoning
- Municipal zoning may prohibit a residential kitchen in some cities and towns. Ask before you spend anything.
This is the thing to understand about Massachusetts: there is no single statewide application to fill in. Your town is the authority. Two cooks an hour apart can have different fees and different answers, and both are right.
If you want the state's view as well, the Department of Public Health's Food Protection Program will take the question: fpp.dph@mass.gov or 617-983-6712. Mass.gov, Residential Kitchen Questions and Answers
Selling online, and selling by mail
Massachusetts settles the question most states leave ambiguous, in one sentence:
"Direct to the consumer" includes events like farmers markets, craft fairs, and sales by internet or mail.
So an order page is inside what the permit contemplates, and so is posting a box — as long as the sale is direct to the person eating the food, rather than to a business for resale.
Out of state is a different question. Selling across state lines means complying with federal law and with the law of the state you are selling into — which, as the rest of this section shows, varies enormously. A customer in Virginia or Washington is governed by rules that are not yours.
How much can you sell, and to whom
- Annual limit
- No state cap is stated. We are reporting an absence, not a permission — your local board of health is the authority on what your permit allows.
- Direct to consumers
- Yes: from your home, at farmers markets and craft fairs, and by internet or mail.
- Shops and restaurants
- Not under a retail permit. That is the wholesale route — see below.
- Out of state
- Comply with federal law and with the law of the other state.
Retail and wholesale are two different things in Massachusetts, and mixing them up is the common mistake:
- Retail Residential Kitchen — permitted and inspected by your local board of health, selling direct to consumers. This is the cottage food route.
- Wholesale Residential Kitchen — inspected and licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Food Protection Program, and able to sell to retail stores, grocery stores and restaurants.
If your plan is to supply a café, it is the second one you want, and it is a different application to a different body. Mass.gov
What you can make
Foods that can be safely held at room temperature — the familiar non-hazardous set: baked goods, jams and jellies among them.
Anything needing refrigeration or hot holding falls outside a retail residential kitchen. The Department of Public Health publishes the Retail Food Code standards that apply to permitted residential kitchens, and your local board of health applies them: Retail Food Code Standards for Permitted Residential Kitchens.
Because the permit is local, the practical list for you is the one your board of health will approve. Take your intended products to them early rather than after you have bought packaging.
Labels
Labeling comes under the Retail Food Code and is applied by your local board of health along with the rest of the permit.
We are not going to print a label template here. Massachusetts does not prescribe a single statewide cottage food sentence the way Michigan, Ohio and Illinois do, and inventing one from another state's rules would be worse than useless. Ask your board of health what your labels must carry when you apply — it is the same conversation as the permit.
Food safety training
The Retail Food Code sets food safety requirements for permitted establishments, and your local board of health applies them to a residential kitchen.
What that means in practice for you — whether a food protection manager certification is expected, and of whom — is a question for the board of health issuing your permit. We would rather send you to the body that decides than guess at a statewide answer that does not exist.
Is your kitchen inspected?
Yes. Retail Residential Kitchen operations are inspected and permitted by the local board of health, so a visit is part of getting and keeping the permit.
Massachusetts therefore sits with North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington among the states on this site that look at the room — not with Texas, Michigan or Arizona, where the label carries the disclosure instead. One practical consequence: there is no "this kitchen was not inspected" sentence to print, because it was.
Sales tax
A local health permit says nothing about tax. Whether what you sell is taxable, and whether you must register to collect, belongs to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.
Official sources
- Residential Kitchen Questions and AnswersCommonwealth of Massachusetts
- Retail Food Code Standards for Permitted Residential KitchensMassachusetts Department of Public Health
- Massachusetts Department of RevenueCommonwealth of Massachusetts
Last verified: 31 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 food from home in Massachusetts?
Yes, and it comes from your city or town rather than the state. A home food business selling direct to consumers is permitted as a Retail Residential Kitchen under the Retail Food Code, and the local board of health where the kitchen is located both permits and inspects it.
Can I sell online in Massachusetts?
Yes. The state is explicit that "Direct to the consumer" includes events like farmers markets, craft fairs, and sales by internet or mail. That makes Massachusetts more permissive than Washington, which allows the sale but not the shipping, and than Michigan, which allows it only where the customer had a way to reach the producer first.
How much can I sell in a year?
No state cap is stated. That is an absence rather than a permission: the permit is local, so what your operation may do is set through your own board of health. Ask them, and ask the Department of Public Health’s Food Protection Program if you want the state view as well.
How much does the permit cost?
No state fee is stated, because the permit is issued locally — the cost is set by your city or town. Your board of health is the only place that can give you the real figure.
Can I sell to a shop or a restaurant?
Not under a retail permit. That is the wholesale route: a Wholesale Residential Kitchen is inspected and licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Food Protection Program, and may sell to retail stores, grocery stores and restaurants. It is a different application to a different body.
Can I ship to customers in other states?
Selling across state lines means complying with federal law and with the law of the state you are selling into. Those laws differ sharply — Virginia forbids internet sales under its exemption and Washington forbids shipping altogether — so the answer depends on where the customer is, not only on your own permit.
Will my kitchen be inspected?
Yes. Retail Residential Kitchen operations are inspected and permitted by the local board of health, so an inspection is part of getting the permit and keeping it. Massachusetts is one of the states that looks at the room rather than relying on a label disclosure.
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
- FloridaNo permit · $250,000 cap · mail order allowed by statute
- 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
- OhioNo license in the rules · no sales cap · a closed list of foods · Ohio only
- MichiganNo license · $50,000 published cap · online sales allowed if you meet the customer first
- VirginiaNo permit, no inspection, no fee · sell by phone or internet · Virginia only, no resale
- Washington$355 permit for 2 years · annual inspections · $35,000 cap · sell online, never ship
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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