Do You Need a Cottage Food Permit in Florida?

You do not need a cottage food permit in Florida. Under Florida Statute 500.80, you can make and sell certain shelf-stable foods from your home kitchen without a state license and without a kitchen inspection, provided your annual gross sales stay under $250,000.¹ What you do still need to handle: careful labeling, local business registration, taxes, and a clear understanding of what you can and cannot sell.

What Counts as a Cottage Food Operation

A cottage food operation is exempt from the permitting requirements that apply to commercial kitchens and restaurants. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) will not inspect your kitchen, and there is no state application to file.¹ You are not entirely off the state’s radar, though. If someone files a complaint, an authorized officer can enter and inspect your premises.

The exemption depends on one hard cap: your annual gross cottage food sales cannot exceed $250,000.¹ That figure covers every location and every product combined. If FDACS asks for proof, you must produce written documentation of your sales total, so keep clean records from the first transaction.² Cross the threshold and you lose the exemption; at that point you need a standard food establishment permit to keep operating.

Foods You Can and Cannot Sell

Cottage food operations are limited to foods that do not require refrigeration or time-and-temperature controls to stay safe. Common approved products include breads, cookies, cakes, candies, jams, jellies, fruit pies, honey, dried herbs, homemade pasta, granola, trail mixes, nuts, popcorn, and vinegar.

The banned list covers anything that can grow dangerous bacteria at room temperature. Cream-filled pastries, custards, cheesecakes, meat products, and canned vegetables are off limits. Two categories catch people off guard: pickled or acidified foods such as pickles and salsa, and fermented foods such as sauerkraut and kombucha, are also prohibited in Florida, even though other states allow them.

All product you sell must be stored on the premises of your cottage food operation.¹ Renting an offsite storage unit for inventory disqualifies you from the exemption.

How and Where You’re Allowed to Sell

Every sale must go directly from you to the end consumer. You can sell from your home, at a roadside stand, at a farmers market, or at a flea market. Internet and mail-order sales are allowed, and you can deliver in person, ship through the U.S. Postal Service, or use a commercial carrier such as UPS or FedEx.¹ Delivery to a specific event venue like a wedding site is also permitted.

Wholesale is not. No grocery stores, no restaurants, no consignment at a retail shop. The sale has to move from producer to consumer with nothing in between.¹

One boundary that trips up online sellers: shipping cottage food products across state lines almost certainly is not covered. Cottage food exemptions are state laws, and once a product crosses into another state it becomes interstate commerce under federal FDA regulations. Florida’s exemption gives you no protection there, so keep sales inside Florida.

Label Requirements

Every cottage food product must be prepackaged with a label that includes all of the following:¹

The name and physical address of your cottage food operation.
The name of the product.
The ingredients, listed in descending order of predominance by weight.
The net weight or net volume of the package.
Allergen information as required by federal law.
The 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 clearly contrasts with the background.

If your label makes any nutritional claim, such as “low sugar” or “high fiber,” you also have to include the nutritional information that federal labeling rules require for that claim.¹

Allergen Disclosures

Federal law recognizes nine major food allergens that must appear on food labels: milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, soybeans, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, and sesame.³ Sesame was added under the FASTER Act effective January 1, 2023, and it applies to cottage food products like any other packaged food. If your product contains tree nuts, identify the specific type (almonds, pecans, walnuts) rather than listing them generically as “nuts.”

Local Business Rules

Florida law preempts local governments from banning cottage food operations. No city or county can prohibit you from running one or impose extra regulations on how you prepare, process, store, or sell your products.¹ That preemption is a real protection, but local requirements do not disappear entirely.

You still have to meet the conditions for operating a home-based business under Florida Statute 559.955. In practice, that means confirming your local zoning code permits a home-based business in your residential area. Most cities and counties also require a local Business Tax Receipt (formerly called an occupational license) for any business operating in their jurisdiction. The fee and application process vary by location and typically go through your city or county government office.

Taxes You Still Owe

The exemption covers permitting, not taxes. The statute is explicit: a cottage food operation is not exempt from any state or federal tax law.¹

On the state side, food products for human consumption are generally exempt from Florida sales tax. Cottage food products like baked goods, jams, and granola fall within that grocery exemption, so you typically will not collect sales tax on them.

Federal taxes are a different story. Cottage food income is self-employment income. If your net earnings from self-employment reach $400 or more in a year, you must file a federal income tax return and pay self-employment tax using Schedule SE.⁴ The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%. You can deduct half of that self-employment tax as an adjustment to your income.

Track expenses from the start. Ingredients, packaging, labels, farmers market booth fees, and delivery costs are all potentially deductible business expenses that reduce your net earnings and your tax bill.

Insurance Worth Considering

Florida does not require cottage food operators to carry liability insurance, but operating without it is a gamble. If a customer has an allergic reaction or claims they got sick from your product, you are personally on the hook for any damages. Standard homeowners policies often exclude claims arising from commercial activity in the home, so the coverage you already have may do nothing for you.⁵

Product liability insurance built for food businesses is widely available and relatively affordable for small operations. Before you sell your first jar of jam, call your homeowners insurer and ask whether a home-based food business is covered under your existing policy. If not, a standalone product liability policy fills the gap.

Launch Checklist

Putting it together, the actual startup is straightforward:

Choose shelf-stable products that do not require refrigeration, and check FDACS guidance if a product’s status is unclear.
Design labels with all six required elements, paying close attention to allergen disclosures and the cottage food disclaimer at the correct type size.
Contact your city or county about zoning rules for home-based businesses and apply for a Business Tax Receipt if one is required.
Set up recordkeeping that tracks every sale and each batch, so you can document annual sales and trace products if a question arises.
Call your homeowners insurer and, if needed, add a product liability policy before your first sale.
Start selling. No state approval is required once your labels are compliant and your local requirements are met.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Chapter 500 Section 80 – Cottage Food Operations
2
Panhandle Agriculture. From $15,000 to $250,000 – Floridas Cottage Food Law Today
3
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FASTER Act – Sesame Is the Ninth Major Food Allergen
4
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Guide for Small Business
5
UF/IFAS Extension Lee County. Q and A – Understanding Floridas Cottage Food Law