Cottage food rules
Cottage Food Laws in Colorado Springs: What to Know
The state rules a Colorado Springs home baker has to clear before the first sale.
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What to remember
- Complete a food safety training course before you start selling.
- Register with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and renew that registration annually.
- Sales have to go directly to informed end consumers.
- The home kitchen allowance is ten thousand dollars or less in net revenue per calendar year, per eligible food product.
- A pending Colorado bill would add foods that need refrigeration and foods that contain meat.
If you bake in Colorado Springs and sell to neighbors, that is the law you are working under. The rules come from the state rather than from a recipe book, so it pays to read them once, write down the parts that apply to you, and then get back to baking. Cottage food laws by state shows how Colorado sits next to other states, and cottage food laws and regulations covers the general shape of these rules.
What Colorado asks of you before your first sale
Two things come before selling. The Colorado Cottage Foods Act requires producers to complete a food safety training course before starting a cottage foods business. Producers are also required to register with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and that registration must be renewed annually.
Take the food safety course
Complete a food safety training course before your business starts. Do this first, since the requirement comes before selling, not after.
Register with CDPHE
Register as a cottage food producer with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Put the renewal on your calendar
The registration must be renewed every year. Pick a month you will remember and set a reminder in your phone.
Check each product against the allowed list
The act allows certain homemade foods. Confirm that every item on your menu is one of them before you take an order.
Track net revenue for each product
The home kitchen allowance is measured per eligible food product, per calendar year, so keep a separate tally for each one.
Where you can bake and who you can sell to
A producer may use a home kitchen, or a commercial, private, or public kitchen, to produce foods for sale, but only if the producer sells those foods directly to informed end consumers. That one sentence answers both the kitchen question and the sales question. If you are unsure whether a particular arrangement counts as selling directly to an informed end consumer, ask the state health department before you accept the order.
Foods that may join the list
A Colorado bill, HB26-1033, expands the Colorado Cottage Foods Act by allowing the sale of homemade foods that require refrigeration and foods that include meat and meat products. A bill is not the same as a rule you can bake under today, so confirm where it stands with the state before you plan a refrigerated item or anything with meat in it. Until then, build your menu from foods the act already allows.
Records that make renewal and taxes easier
Your registration renews every year, and the revenue limit is measured per product, so a simple record beats a shoebox of receipts. For each item, write down what you sold it for, what it cost you, and the net. Cottage food laws and taxes walks through the tax side of selling from home. If animals share your kitchen, read cottage food laws and pets before you start rather than after.
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Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from my home in Colorado Springs?
Colorado requires cottage food producers to complete a food safety training course before starting, and to register with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. That registration must be renewed annually. Start with the state rules, then ask your city and county offices whether they require anything extra.
How much can I sell from my home kitchen in Colorado?
The home kitchen provision applies only to producers who earn net revenues of ten thousand dollars or less per calendar year from the sale of each eligible food product produced in the home kitchen. It is measured per product, so keep a separate record for each one.
Can I sell at a farmers market?
The act covers foods sold directly to informed end consumers. Whether a particular market arrangement counts that way is a question to put to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment before you pay for a stall.
Can I rent a commercial kitchen instead of baking at home?
Yes. A producer may use a home kitchen, or a commercial, private, or public kitchen, to produce foods for sale, as long as those foods are sold directly to informed end consumers.
Can I sell cheesecake or other foods that need refrigeration?
A Colorado bill, HB26-1033, expands the act by allowing the sale of homemade foods that require refrigeration and foods that include meat and meat products. Confirm the bill's status with the state before you plan those products.
Sources
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change, so confirm the current requirements with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and your city and county offices before you sell.