Cottage food rules
Cottage Food License in Kentucky: What Home Bakers Need
The Kentucky paperwork, the $50 fee, and the kitchen rules, in plain words.
On this page
What to remember
- It is a registration, not a license: Form DFS-250 with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
- $50 a year, and gross income must stay at or under $60,000 annually.
- Shelf-stable, non-TCS foods only: baked goods, candies, dried foods, standard jams and jellies.
- No family cooking, dishwashing, or laundry in the kitchen while you are producing.
- Online sales are allowed with the necessary registration and permit in place.
If you have been searching for a cottage food license in Kentucky, the first thing to know is that the name is wrong. Kentucky’s route for home bakers is the Home-Based Processor program, and it runs on a registration. The wider picture of how states handle this is in cottage food laws in the USA, but here is what Kentucky asks of you specifically.
Registration, not a license
KRS 217.136 exempts home-based processors of food and cosmetic products from the permit requirement and from fair packaging and labeling laws, while setting the rules for production, labeling, and sales. In practice that means you are not chasing a license at all. You register as a Home-Based Processor with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, using Form DFS-250, and you pay a $50 annual fee.
The Cabinet’s Home-Based Processing page is the page to read before you take your first paid order. It covers registration information, the products you are allowed to make, the ways you are allowed to sell them, the standards you have to operate to, and how your labels must read. Keep it open on your phone while you set up.
What you can make and sell
Kentucky’s path covers shelf-stable, non-TCS foods. That means baked goods, candies, dried foods, and standard jams and jellies. If you are unsure whether a particular item belongs on that list, the habit of checking is worth learning early, and where to check cottage food rules walks you through it.
Confirm your product fits
Check that what you want to sell is a shelf-stable, non-TCS food such as a baked good, candy, dried food, or standard jam or jelly.
Read the Cabinet page
Go through the Home-Based Processing page for allowable products, permitted selling methods, operating standards, and labeling requirements.
Fill in Form DFS-250
Register as a Home-Based Processor with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
Pay the $50 fee
The registration runs on a $50 annual fee.
Set up your kitchen for production days
Plan how you will stop domestic activity in the kitchen while you are making product.
Label to the published rules
Follow the labeling requirements the Cabinet publishes, not a template from a social post.
Labels, testing, and selling online
Food products identified in KRS 217.015(56) and labeled in accordance with KRS 217.136(3) are not required to be tested to determine whether the food product is an acidified or low-acid canned food. Your label is doing real work here, so treat it as part of the job rather than an afterthought.
Cottage food products can be sold online in Kentucky as long as you have the necessary cottage food registration and permit from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. If you sell from your own shop rather than a market table, that is the line to keep in view.
Open the free bake pricing calculator
Free, no signup.
The income ceiling
Kentucky statute defines both a home-based processor and a home-based microprocessor as someone with gross income of no more than $60,000 annually. Watch that number as your order list grows, because it decides whether this path still fits you. Neighboring states set their limits differently, and a look at how Georgia handles cottage food shows how much the details can vary.
Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from my home in Kentucky?
No. Kentucky uses a registration. You register as a Home-Based Processor with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services on Form DFS-250 and pay a $50 annual fee.
How much does the Kentucky home-based processor registration cost?
The annual fee is $50.
Can I sell my cottage food products online in Kentucky?
Yes, as long as you have the necessary cottage food registration and permit from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
Is there an income limit?
Kentucky statute defines a home-based processor as someone with gross income of no more than $60,000 annually.
Can I cook dinner in my kitchen while I bake for customers?
No. Domestic activities in the kitchen, including family meal preparation, dishwashing, and washing or drying laundry, must stop during production.
Sources
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules and fees change, so confirm the current requirements with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services before you sell.