Cottage food rules
Colorado Cottage Food Laws: What Home Bakers Should Know
A plain answer on what you can bake and sell in Colorado, and what to do before your first order.
What to remember
- A food safety training course comes before your first sale, not after.
- Only foods that do not require refrigeration are covered by the Act.
- You sell directly to the informed end consumer, not through a shop or a reseller.
- No license and no inspection for foods that fit the Act.
- A bill has been introduced to add refrigerated foods and meat, but it is a bill, not the current rule.
If you bake from your home kitchen in Colorado and sell to people who order from you, this is the law that decides what you can put in a box. It is short, and most of it comes down to two questions: what you make, and who you hand it to.
What you can sell
The Act allows the sale and consumption of a limited range of homemade foods that do not require refrigeration. That is the whole test. If a bake has to stay cold to be safe, it sits outside the Act, and the same goes for anything the Act does not list. Neighboring states draw the line in different places, so do not assume a bake that sells well in Wyoming or Utah is fine here.
Who you can sell to
Under the Act, product must be sold by the producer or their designated representative directly to the informed end consumer. In everyday terms, you sell to the person who is going to eat it, and you are the one who hands it over, or someone you have designated does. The customer needs to know what they are buying and that it was made in a home kitchen.
You are not tied to your own kitchen. A producer may use his or her home kitchen, or a commercial, private, or public kitchen, to produce foods for sale, as long as the producer sells those foods directly to informed end consumers. A shared church kitchen or a rented space can work, but the direct sale part does not change.
Before your first sale
Complete a food safety training course
The Act requires producers to complete a food safety training course before starting a cottage foods business. Do this first, before you take a single order.
Pick products that do not need refrigeration
Go through your menu and keep only the bakes that are safe without a fridge. Everything else waits.
Decide who hands over the food
You can sell it yourself, or a designated representative can sell it for you. Either way it goes directly to the informed end consumer.
Set up a simple way to take orders
Keep a written record of what each customer ordered and when they collected it, so you can answer questions later without digging through your phone.
What may change
A bill, HB26-1033, has been introduced to expand the Act. It is also being called the Tamale Act, and it is aimed at supporting Colorado entrepreneurs who want to start a food business from home. If it passes, refrigerated foods and foods containing meat could come into reach. For now, treat it as something to watch rather than something to plan your menu around, and check the current position before you add anything new.
Once your menu is settled, the next question is price. Our guide to California cottage food rules is a useful reminder that every state handles the paperwork differently, but the maths of costing a batch is the same everywhere.
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Common questions
Do I need a license to sell home baked goods in Colorado?
The Cottage Foods Act allows limited types of food products to be sold directly to consumers without licensing or inspection. What you do need is a food safety training course completed before you start.
Can I sell cakes that need to be kept cold?
Not under the current Act. It covers a limited range of homemade foods that do not require refrigeration. A bill has been introduced that would allow refrigerated foods and foods containing meat, but it is not the rule today.
Can someone else sell my bakes for me?
Yes. Product must be sold by the producer or their designated representative directly to the informed end consumer. The sale still has to go straight to the person eating it.
Can I bake in a kitchen that is not my home?
Yes. A producer may use his or her home kitchen, or a commercial, private, or public kitchen, to produce foods for sale, as long as the producer sells the foods directly to informed end consumers.
When did these rules start?
The Colorado Cottage Foods Act was enacted by the Colorado Legislature in 2012.
Sources
This is general information about the Colorado Cottage Foods Act, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm the current requirements with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment before you sell.