Cottage food rules
Cottage Food License in PA: What Home Bakers Need
What Pennsylvania actually asks of a home baker, what it costs, and how to get registered.
On this page
What to remember
- There is no separate cottage food statute in Pennsylvania.
- You register as a Limited Food Establishment with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
- Registration is $35 a year and the state handles renewals.
- There is no income limit on what you sell.
- Baked goods that are not time and temperature controlled are on the allowed list.
If you have been searching for a cottage food license in PA and coming up empty, that is because the state uses a different name for it. The paperwork is real, the fee is real, and the allowed list is real. It just does not carry the cottage food label. Here is what to do, in plain words, so you can get your kitchen registered and get back to baking.
What Pennsylvania calls it
Pennsylvania has no separate cottage food statute. Instead, home food producers register as a Limited Food Establishment under 3 Pa.C.S. That is the legal home for what most other states call a cottage food operation. So when someone tells you to get a cottage food license, what they mean in Pennsylvania is a Limited Food Establishment registration through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
What you can sell from your home kitchen
The allowed cottage food items in Pennsylvania include baked goods that are not time and temperature controlled, along with jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butters, honey, and maple syrup. There is no income limit on cottage food sales, so you are not capped at a certain number of dollars a year the way bakers are in some other states. That matters if you want to grow from a few weekend orders into something steady.
How to register your home kitchen
Know what you are applying for
Pennsylvania does not issue a cottage food license. Home food producers register as a Limited Food Establishment with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
Find the state service
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture handles applications and renewals for Limited Food Establishment registration for home based or noncommercial food production sites.
Send in your application
Apply for the Limited Food Establishment registration for your home kitchen through that Department of Agriculture service.
Pay the yearly fee
Limited Food Establishment registration in Pennsylvania costs $35 a year. Put it in your budget like any other business cost.
Renew when it comes due
The Department of Agriculture handles renewals too, so keep your registration current before you take orders for the next year.
The fee is small enough that it should not be the thing that stops you. $35 a year is a couple of dozen cookies in most home bakeries. What it buys you is the ability to sell your bakes without wondering whether you are allowed to. If you sell over a state line, the rules change, so read cottage food license in NJ before you take orders in New Jersey, and do the same for Maryland and Delaware.
See what your bakes really cost to make
Free, no signup.
Once the registration is behind you, the work that keeps a home bakery going is the everyday kind: knowing what each recipe costs you, keeping track of what you have on the shelf, and getting paid without losing a slice to fees. Brevl is $20 a month flat with no cut of your sales, there is a 14 day free trial, and a real person answers when you have a question, usually within minutes. We will even move your old shop over for you, products, photos, reviews, and dates. You bake. The rest can be simpler.
Common questions
Do I need a cottage food license in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania has no separate cottage food statute, so there is no cottage food license to apply for. Home food producers register as a Limited Food Establishment with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture instead.
How much does it cost?
Limited Food Establishment registration in Pennsylvania costs $35 a year. The Department of Agriculture handles both applications and renewals.
Is there a limit on how much I can sell?
Pennsylvania sets no income limit on cottage food sales.
What can I sell once I am registered?
The allowed items include baked goods that are not time and temperature controlled, along with jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butters, honey, and maple syrup.
Who handles my application and renewal?
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture handles applications and renewals for Limited Food Establishment registration for home based or noncommercial food production sites.
Sources
This is general information for home bakers, not legal or tax advice. Rules change, so confirm the current requirements with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture before you sell.