Cottage Food Laws

Cottage Food Laws in New York

Learn the cottage food laws in New York — annual sales limits, license and permit requirements, allowed sales channels, and where you can legally sell homemade food.

At a Glance

🏠
Home Kitchen
Allowed
💰
Annual Sales Limit
No hard limit (varies by product)
📋
License / Permit
Required
🌐
Online Sales
Not Allowed
🌡️
TCS / Refrigerated Foods
Not Allowed

Where You Can Sell

New York cottage food vendors are permitted to sell through the following channels:

Direct to Consumer Farmers Markets Roadside Stands Retail Stores
🏪
Wholesale / Retail
Allowed
Pop-Up / Craft Fairs
Allowed
🌎
Interstate Sales
In-State Only
🏪
Wholesale — Important Restrictions

New York Home Processor Registration allows wholesale to restaurants, cafes, grocery stores, and other retail facilities within New York State. All products must be shelf-stable and non-potentially hazardous. Unique restriction: chocolate and all chocolate-covered items are prohibited entirely (New York is the only state with this specific exclusion, due to food safety concerns in the tempering process). No annual sales cap applies. All products must be pre-packaged and properly labeled before delivery.

License & Permit Requirements

⚠️
New York requires a license or permit to operate as a cottage food producer.
Permit type: Home Processor License or Home Bakery Registration
🎓
Food Safety Course
Not Required
🔍
Kitchen Inspection
Not Required

Annual Sales Limits

🎉
No Annual Sales Cap — New York places no limit on your cottage food revenue. Grow as big as your kitchen (and your schedule) can handle!

Acidified & Fermented Foods

Acidified foods include pickles, hot sauces, salsas, fermented vegetables, and other products with a pH at or below 4.6. These are regulated separately in most states.

🚫
Acidified foods are not allowed under New York's standard cottage food law. Pickles, hot sauces, fermented products, and similar items require a licensed commercial kitchen or separate processing permit in this state.

Important Notes

Requires state registration/license. Kitchen must pass inspection for some permit types. Farmers market and direct sales common.

Official Sources

Always verify cottage food laws directly with your state agency — laws change, and we want you selling with confidence.

Information last updated: June 15, 2026. Cottage food laws change frequently — always confirm with your state.

Ready to Launch Your Food Business

Three steps from your kitchen to launching your business

No storefront, no app to build, and no extra platforms to manage. Bea handles the heavy lifting — you handle the homemade. Behind the scenes you'll have all of the tools to promote, manage, and operate your business.

Step 1

Open your shop

Sign up in under two minutes. Add your story, images, branding, photos, social media channels, pickup & delivery availability. Select your layout & selling model. We'll set up your professional website complete with an e-mail & text opt in form in less than 5 minutes.

Step 2

List what you make

Bea helps you add your products. Need options for flavors? Want to sell digital products like recipe books? Bea suggests pricing, helps you write descriptions, and tags everything for local search. She'll even help you setup custom orders.

Step 3

Start selling

Share your website. Neighbors find you, place orders, and pick up at farmers markets or your porch. Prefer to use drops? No problem, schedule your drops straight from your dashboard. Track your sales, pricing, inventory, and manage custom orders all from your dashboard.

REady When You Are.

It’s free to get started

We know you'll love it here. If you already have a cottage food business, or ready to start one, come on over to Butter & Sage Market. We're connecting neighbors with their local food makers.