Florida Cottage Food Law 2026: Sales Cap, Permits, Labels, and What You Can Sell

Florida's cottage food law lets home bakers sell baked goods and other non-perishable foods directly to consumers without a food permit, with an annual gross sales cap of $250,000. The program is governed by Florida Statute 500.80, administered by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). Florida has one of the most permissive cottage food frameworks in the country — it even allows mail-order sales — but there are still specific rules on labeling, allowed products, and sales venues that trip up new bakers.

Last verified: September 2026. Laws change — always confirm current rules at the FDACS Cottage Foods page.

This is general information, not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney or FDACS for guidance specific to your situation.

Key takeaways

• Florida's cottage food annual gross sales cap is $250,000 — one of the highest in the U.S.
• No state permit, license, or registration is required to operate as a cottage food business in Florida, and no state inspection unless FDACS receives a complaint.
• No mandatory food safety training or certification is required by the state.
• You can sell from your home, at farmers' markets, flea markets, and roadside stands, and online or by mail order — with delivery in person by you or by mail. What you cannot do is sell wholesale, through stores or restaurants, on consignment, or through third-party delivery services.
• All products must be non-time/temperature-control-for-safety (non-TCS) foods — nothing that requires refrigeration. FDACS treats cream cheese and real-butter buttercream frostings as TCS.
• Every package must carry the statement "Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations." in at least 10-point type in a contrasting color.

What is Florida's cottage food law?

Florida Statute 500.80 exempts cottage food operations from the state's food permitting requirements (Section 500.12). That means you can bake and sell from your home kitchen without a commercial kitchen, without routine health inspections, and without a food permit. The trade-off: you must follow the rules on product types, labeling, and sales venues exactly.

The statute defines a cottage food operation as a natural person (or an entity a natural person owns) that produces or packages cottage food products in that person's home kitchen and sells them directly to consumers. The key word is directly — no wholesale, no consignment, no reselling by a shop or restaurant. Rented kitchens, motor homes, and nonprofit organizations do not qualify.

Annual sales cap: $250,000

Florida's annual gross sales cap for cottage food operations is $250,000. That is total revenue, not profit. If you sell $251,000 worth of cookies in a calendar year, you've exceeded the exemption and need a food permit.

For context, $250,000 is among the most generous caps in the country. Many states cap cottage food sales at $25,000 or $50,000. A baker selling $6 loaves of banana bread would need to move about 41,667 loaves per year — roughly 800 per week — to hit that ceiling. Most home bakers won't come close, but if you're running a serious operation with high-ticket custom cakes at $150 each, you could reach it with around 1,667 orders per year, or about 32 per week.

If you're approaching that cap, it's time to think about transitioning to a permitted food business. That likely means renting a commercial kitchen or building one that meets FDACS requirements.

Permits, registration, and training requirements

Florida does not require a state-level permit, license, or registration for cottage food operations. You also don't need to complete a food safety course or obtain a food handler's certificate under the state cottage food law. FDACS may inspect a cottage food operation only after receiving a complaint.

However, there are a few things to be aware of:

• Local requirements: Statute 500.80 preempts local regulation — a city or county may not prohibit a cottage food operation or regulate how you prepare, store, or sell cottage food. You must still follow local rules on traffic, parking, noise, signage, and hours of retail operation, and many Florida counties and cities issue a general business tax receipt to any home business. Check with your county tax collector.
• Sales tax: Most baked goods sold in Florida are exempt from sales tax, but some items (like candy or chocolate-covered items) may be taxable. Contact the Florida Department of Revenue if you're unsure.
• Business structure: The state doesn't require you to form an LLC or register a business name, but many bakers choose to for liability protection. Setting up a basic business structure early can save headaches later.

Which foods are allowed under Florida cottage food law?

Florida's cottage food law permits only non-TCS foods (formerly called "non-potentially hazardous") — items that don't require time or temperature control for safety. FDACS publishes the list of qualifying categories:

Allowed foods

• Loaf breads, rolls, and biscuits (including gluten-free varieties)
• Cakes, pastries, and cookies (without custard, cream, cream cheese, or butter-based fillings and frostings that require refrigeration)
• Candies and confections (hard candy, fudge, toffee, pralines, caramel and candy apples)
• Fruit pies and dried fruits — but not pumpkin or sweet potato pies
• Fruit butters (apple butter and similar) — but not vegetable butters such as pumpkin butter
• Jams, jellies, and preserves
• Honey — only if you harvest it from your own hives
• Dry herbs, seasonings, and mixtures
• Homemade pasta
• Cereals, trail mixes, and granola
• Coated or uncoated nuts, and nut butters ground from shelled nuts
• Vinegar and flavored vinegars
• Popcorn and popcorn balls
• Roasted coffee (whole bean or ground) and home-milled flours

Prohibited foods

• Any food requiring refrigeration or temperature control for safety (TCS foods)
• Cream cheese frosting and buttercream made with real butter (FDACS classifies both as TCS); custard fillings and meringue-topped pies
• Cheesecakes, cream pies, and pumpkin or sweet potato pies
• Cut fresh fruit or vegetable toppings — cut melons, cut tomatoes, and cut leafy greens are TCS
• Meat, poultry, fish, or seafood products, including jerky and meat-filled pastries
• Canned vegetables, low-acid canned foods, and garlic-in-oil mixtures
• Cooked vegetable products — salsas, tomato and barbecue sauces, focaccia with roasted vegetables
• Raw milk or dairy products, and bottled juices
• Anything containing CBD, THC, or other hemp compounds
• Fermented foods like kimchi or kombucha are not on FDACS's list — ask FDACS before selling them
• Pet treats (the cottage food law covers human food only)

A common mistake: bakers assume standard American buttercream is fine. According to FDACS guidance, it is not — frostings made with real butter or cream cheese are considered TCS because of their water content. Frostings made with margarine, shortening, or plant-based butter are permissible. If you're unsure about a specific recipe, contact FDACS directly — guessing can get you shut down at a market.

If you're a gluten-free baker, most of your standard recipes (muffins, cookies, quick breads made with almond flour, brown rice flour, or cassava flour) qualify as cottage food products as long as they don't need refrigeration.

Where you can (and can't) sell

Florida's cottage food law requires direct sales to consumers only, but "direct" is broader in Florida than in most states. Here's what that means in practice:

Allowed sales venues

• Your home: Customers can come to your door and buy directly.
• Farmers' markets, flea markets, and roadside stands: You can rent a booth and sell face-to-face, as long as your space has no other food items that require a food permit. Market boards may impose their own vendor requirements.
• Private events: You can sell for weddings, birthday parties, and similar events, provided you produce the food and deliver it to the venue yourself.
• Online and mail order: Statute 500.80 lets you advertise, take orders, and accept payment on your website or by mail order, and deliver either in person or by the U.S. Postal Service or a commercial mail delivery service.

Not allowed

• Wholesale, stores, and restaurants: You cannot sell to a grocery store, coffee shop, or restaurant for resale, and you cannot place products on consignment. FDACS treats these as wholesale.
• Third-party pickup or delivery: Products must be delivered to the consumer (or the consumer's event venue) by you or by mail — not picked up or distributed by a courier or delivery app.
• Selling from a non-home location or alongside a licensed vendor: A permitted food establishment or mobile unit cannot sell your cottage food, and you cannot sell it from a shop you run elsewhere.
• Out-of-state sales: Neither the statute nor FDACS guidance expressly addresses shipping across state lines, and federal rules govern interstate food commerce. Confirm with FDACS before you ship outside Florida.

The wholesale ban is the biggest limitation for Florida cottage food bakers who want to grow. If you're hitting the point where wholesale accounts would significantly increase your revenue, you'll need to move beyond the cottage food exemption.

Florida cottage food law summary table

Label requirements for Florida cottage food products

Every cottage food product sold in Florida must be prepackaged with a label affixed. This is non-negotiable, and getting it wrong is one of the fastest ways to get flagged at a farmers market. Here's exactly what the label must include, printed in English:

1. The name of the product (e.g., "Chocolate Chip Cookies")
2. The name and address of the cottage food operation — this is your name and your home address. Yes, your actual home address. FDACS guidance says a P.O. box is not acceptable; the physical address of your home kitchen is required for traceback in a foodborne illness complaint.
3. The ingredients list — listed in descending order by weight, just like commercial food labels, with sub-ingredients of any prepared item in parentheses. If you're using a sugar alternative like allulose or monk fruit sweetener, list the full ingredient name.
4. The net weight or net volume of the product.
5. All major allergens as specified by federal labeling requirements — milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts (naming the specific nut), peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. If you're baking gluten-free but your kitchen also handles wheat flour, you should note that on the label.
6. Nutritional information if you make any nutritional claim.
7. The required cottage food statement: "Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations." — printed in at least 10-point type in a color that provides a clear contrast to the background of the label. This exact wording must appear on every package.

For a wedding cake or other product you can't stick a label on, FDACS says to put all of the label information on the invoice and deliver the invoice with the cake; if the cake is boxed, label the box.

A practical tip: print your labels on weatherproof sticker paper. A smudged or illegible label at a humid Florida farmers market in July defeats the purpose. Budget about $0.08 to $0.15 per label if you're printing at home on a standard inkjet with waterproof label sheets.

For allergen labeling, be thorough. A home baker who sells gluten-free brownies made with almond flour should list "Contains: Tree Nuts (almonds), Eggs" on every label, and may want to add a voluntary note: "Produced in a home kitchen that processes wheat, dairy, and tree nuts." That voluntary cross-contamination statement isn't legally required, but it protects customers and reduces liability.

How to price your cottage food products

Florida's $250,000 cap gives you a lot of room, but that number means nothing if you're not pricing for profit. A common mistake among new cottage food bakers is pricing based on ingredient cost alone and forgetting labor, packaging, and overhead.

Here's a rough framework: calculate your ingredient cost per batch, add your packaging cost (labels, bags, boxes — typically $0.50 to $2.00 per unit), estimate your labor time at a fair hourly rate (at least $20/hour for skilled baking work), and then multiply total cost by 2.5 to 3 for your retail price.

Example: A batch of 24 gluten-free lemon cookies costs $8.40 in ingredients, $6.00 in packaging (boxes and labels), and takes 90 minutes to make. At $20/hour, that's $30 in labor. Total cost: $44.40. Divided by 24 cookies: $1.85 per cookie. At a 3x markup, you'd charge $5.55 per cookie, or roughly $5.50 to $6.00 each. A box of 6 at $30 is a clean, marketable price point.

If those numbers feel high, remember that handmade, small-batch, gluten-free baked goods command premium pricing at Florida farmers markets. Customers at the Winter Park Farmers Market or St. Pete Saturday Morning Market are used to paying $4 to $7 per cookie and $8 to $12 per slice of cake.

Common mistakes Florida cottage food bakers make

Based on FDACS guidance and its published FAQ, these are the errors that come up most often:

• Selling cakes with cream cheese or real-butter buttercream frosting: This is the number-one violation. FDACS classifies both as TCS foods. Use a shortening-, margarine-, or plant-based-butter frosting, or fondant, instead.
• Missing the cottage food statement on labels: Some bakers include ingredients and allergens but forget the mandatory "Made in a cottage food operation" line — or print it too small. Every single package needs it, in at least 10-point contrasting type.
• Selling through a retail store: A coffee shop's display case, a boutique's shelf, or a consignment arrangement all count as wholesale. Cottage food products can only be sold by you to the end consumer.
• Ignoring local business tax receipts: The state doesn't require a permit, but your county or city may require a general business tax receipt (formerly called an occupational license) for any home business. Fees vary — check with your county tax collector.
• Not tracking gross sales: You need to know your total revenue to stay under $250,000. Keep a simple spreadsheet or use a free tool. If the Florida Department of Revenue or FDACS asks, you want clean records.

Growing beyond cottage food in Florida

If you're consistently selling $3,000 to $5,000 per month and want to expand into wholesale or retail accounts, you'll need to transition out of the cottage food exemption. That means:

• Getting a food permit from FDACS, which requires a permitted commercial kitchen.
• Passing a health inspection of your production facility.
• Completing food safety training — most commercial food operations require a certified food manager on staff.
• Potentially forming an LLC for liability protection and tax benefits.

Some Florida bakers bridge the gap by renting time in a shared commercial kitchen. Rates in the Tampa Bay area run about $15 to $30/hour; in Miami, expect $20 to $40/hour. That lets you sell wholesale without building your own commercial space.

Allergen management for gluten-free cottage food bakers

If you're selling gluten-free baked goods under Florida's cottage food law, allergen management is your responsibility — and your liability. There are no routine inspections, which means there's also no safety net.

Practical steps that matter:

• Dedicate specific equipment (mixing bowls, baking sheets, sifters) to gluten-free production. A $12 fine-mesh sieve used for wheat flour and then "washed" for gluten-free work is a cross-contamination risk.
• If you also bake with wheat in your home kitchen, bake gluten-free products first, before any wheat flour is opened. Wheat flour stays airborne for up to 12 hours in a home kitchen.
• Source certified gluten-free flours and starches. Tapioca starch and potato starch are naturally gluten-free, but cross-contamination can happen at the manufacturing level if the facility also processes wheat.
• Label honestly. If you can't guarantee a gluten-free environment, say "made in a kitchen that also processes wheat" on your label. Customers with celiac disease need to make informed choices.

Insurance and liability considerations

Florida's cottage food law doesn't require liability insurance, but operating without it is risky. If a customer has an allergic reaction to your product, you're personally liable — especially if you're operating as a sole proprietor without an LLC.

Home baking liability insurance policies typically run $250 to $500 per year for $1 million in coverage. Companies like NEXT Insurance and the Food Liability Insurance Program (FLIP) offer policies specifically for cottage food operators. That's less than $1.50 per day for peace of mind.

Your homeowner's insurance almost certainly does not cover a home-based food business. Check your policy and talk to your agent before you sell your first loaf.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a license to sell baked goods from home in Florida?

No. Under Florida Statute 500.80, cottage food operations are exempt from FDACS food permitting. You do not need a state permit, license, or registration, and there is no required training. However, your county or city may require a general business tax receipt, so check with your county government office.

Can I sell cottage food online in Florida?

Yes. Florida law allows you to advertise, take orders, and accept payment on your website or by mail order. You can deliver the product in person, deliver it to a customer's private event venue, or ship it by USPS or a commercial mail carrier. What you cannot do is hand it off through a third-party courier or delivery app, or sell it through a store or restaurant.

What is the cottage food sales limit in Florida for 2026?

The annual gross sales cap is $250,000. This is total revenue, not profit. If you exceed this amount, you must obtain a food permit from FDACS and operate out of a permitted commercial kitchen.

Can I sell cakes with cream cheese frosting under Florida cottage food law?

No. FDACS treats cream cheese frosting — and buttercream made with real butter — as TCS foods that require refrigeration. Frostings made with margarine, shortening, or plant-based butter, and fondant, are generally allowed because they don't require temperature control for safety. When in doubt, contact FDACS.

Do I need to list allergens on my cottage food labels in Florida?

Yes. Florida cottage food labels must include a complete ingredients list and declare all major allergens as specified by federal labeling requirements (milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame). You must also include the statement "Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations." in at least 10-point type in a contrasting color.