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Oregon 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, with no registration at all — ODA says you do not have to fill out an application form or register. You may sell from home, at farmers markets, at farm and roadside stands, and online: the FAQ asks "Can I sell my cottage food products over the Internet?" and answers "Yes."

Three things to hold onto. The cap is $52,700 for 2026, and it moves every year with inflation — it was $51,200 before March. Food handler training is required for every person who prepares the food. And Oregon's kitchen and label rules are the most specific of any state on this site: among other things, your label has to say that pets live in the home and name the species.

The cap is $52,700 — and it will change

The annual gross sales limit for cottage foods is $52,700. That figure arrived on 13 March 2026 with permanent administrative order DOA 95-2026, which amends OAR 603-025-0320 and "increases the annual gross sale limit of cottage foods from $51,200 to $52,700 for inflation as described in ORS 616.723(2)(d)". The adjustment followed a 2.9% rise in the West CPI-U over the twelve months to December 2025. ODA final rule DOA 95-2026

So treat this number as a moving target, not a fact. Oregon is one of the few states that indexes its cap, which is good news — it does not quietly shrink in real terms the way a fixed $10,000 does. But it means any page quoting a figure, this one included, has a shelf life. Check ODA each spring.

Annual limit, 2026
$52,700, indexed annually.
Registration or license
None.
Separate Farm Direct limit
$50,000 — a different exemption with its own ceiling. Do not add them together without checking which one you are using.
Over the limit
You need a Domestic Kitchen Bakery or Food Processor license.

Where you may sell — and the institutions you may not

You may sell at your home, at farmers markets, at farm stands and roadside stands, online, and at similar venues.

You may not sell to an institution. ODA names them: a restaurant, a caterer, a school, a day care, a hospital, a nursing home or a correctional facility. That is a wider ban than most states write down, and it is worth reading before you quote a school for a bake sale.

A retailer is possible, with four conditions. A shop may carry your products only if they are packaged under OAR 603-025-0315(10), labeled under OAR 603-025-0325, the retailer agrees to store and display them separately with signage, and you keep a record of the arrangement. Four conditions is not a no, but it is not the open door Ohio or South Carolina offer either. ODA cottage food FAQ

What you cannot make

Oregon's exemption is for shelf-stable food, and ODA is unusually concrete about the near misses — which is helpful, because these are exactly the products people assume are fine:

The chocolate-covered strawberry is the one that catches people every February, and the pickle is the one that catches people every August. Both are the same rule: a cottage food has to be shelf stable, meaning it does not need refrigeration to stay safe, and fresh fruit or a low-acid vegetable inside the product breaks that.

Note the contrast with Minnesota, where pet treats are explicitly allowed and are the one thing you may ship. Oregon prohibits them.

Food handler training is required

This is not optional in Oregon, and it is easy to miss under the headline that there is no registration. Each person who prepares cottage food must have food handler training.

Every person — so if a family member helps you bake for a market, that person needs it too. It is the same shape of requirement Indiana imposes and the opposite of Tennessee, Missouri and Ohio, which require nothing.

Your kitchen: the rules are specific

There is no routine inspection and no registration, but the sanitation rules in OAR 603-025-0320 apply to you, and ODA may inspect on complaint. Those rules are more detailed than most states bother with:

That last one is the practical heart of it. Oregon does not ask you to get the animals out of the house the way North Carolina does — it asks you to separate the activity in time. You bake when the kitchen is a bakery, and not while the dog is in it or the family dinner is being washed up. It is a workable rule, but only if you plan your day around it.

The label — including your pets

Label rules are in OAR 603-025-0325, and two of them are unlike anything else on this site.

You must declare that pets are present in the dwelling, and name the species. Not that pets are kept out of the kitchen — that they live in the home, and what they are. Your customer gets to decide what to do with that.

No P.O. box. You give a full street address; or your city, state and zip if you are listed in a city directory; or an ODA Unique Identification number. A phone number is required under ORS 616.723(6)(b)(A).

The Unique Identification number is the option worth knowing about if you would rather not print your home address — Maryland and South Carolina offer the same escape, and Tennessee does not.

No registration — what that does and does not mean

ODA could not be clearer: you do not have to fill out an application form or register with ODA to operate under the cottage food exemption.

What that removes is the paperwork and the fee. What it does not remove is the sanitation rules, the training requirement, the label rules or ODA's ability to come and look if someone complains. Oregon has built a light-touch entry with a fairly demanding rulebook behind it — which is the opposite trade from Minnesota, where you register and pay but the kitchen rules are lighter.

Sales tax

Oregon has no statewide general sales tax, which is one fewer thing to set up than in most states on this site. Your income is still income, and your own tax position is a question for your accountant and the Oregon Department of Revenue.

Official sources

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 Oregon?

No, and you do not register either. ODA states that you do not have to fill out an application form or register with ODA to operate under the cottage food exemption. The sanitation rules in OAR 603-025-0320 still apply to you, food handler training is required, and ODA may inspect if somebody complains.

How much can I sell in a year in Oregon?

$52,700 for 2026. That figure took effect on 13 March 2026 under permanent administrative order DOA 95-2026, which raised it from $51,200 for inflation as described in ORS 616.723(2)(d). Oregon indexes this cap, so it moves most years — check ODA each spring rather than trusting a number you read once. Going over means you need a Domestic Kitchen Bakery or Food Processor license.

Can I sell my cottage food products over the Internet?

Yes. ODA's FAQ asks that question directly and answers yes. You may also sell from your home, at farmers markets, and at farm and roadside stands. The limits are on who you sell to rather than how: institutions are off limits, and a retail shop may carry you only under four specific conditions.

Can I sell to a restaurant, a school or a care home?

No. Oregon excludes institutions, and ODA names them: restaurants, caterers, schools, day cares, hospitals, nursing homes and correctional facilities. A retailer is different — a shop may stock you if your products are packaged under OAR 603-025-0315(10), labeled under OAR 603-025-0325, the retailer stores and displays them separately with signage, and you keep a record of it.

Why does my label have to mention my cat?

Because Oregon requires the label to declare that pets are present in the dwelling and to name the species. It is one of the most distinctive rules in the country. North Carolina takes the opposite approach and excludes home kitchens with indoor pets altogether; Oregon lets you keep your animals and requires you to tell your customer instead. You also may not do cottage food work while pets are present in the kitchen.

Can I sell pickles or chocolate-covered strawberries?

Neither. Pickles are not allowed because a cucumber has a pH above 4.60, and pepper jelly is excluded for the same reason. Chocolate-covered strawberries are out because fresh fruit inside the product stops it being shelf stable. ODA also names cream pies, cheesecakes, pastries with cream, custard, meringue or cream cheese, focaccia topped with vegetables or cheese, caramel and candy apples, and baked goods containing meat or fish.

Do I need food handler training?

Yes. Each person who prepares cottage food must have food handler training — not just the business owner. If someone helps you bake for a market, they need it as well. This is a real requirement that often gets lost behind the headline that Oregon asks for no registration.

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