Cottage food rules
Cottage Food License in WA: What Home Bakers Need
A plain walk through the Washington cottage food permit, from application to the kitchen visit.
On this page
What to remember
- The permit comes from the Washington State Department of Agriculture and must be renewed every year.
- It covers not potentially hazardous foods, including baked goods, candies, jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butters and dry spice blends.
- The application asks for a floor plan, your production process, and an equipment and utensil list.
- With a valid permit you are not subject to food processing plant licensing or inspection under chapter 69.07 RCW.
- If your gross sales pass the yearly maximum, you must get a food processing plant license or stop selling.
If you bake from your kitchen and sell to neighbors, this is the paperwork that makes it official. Neighboring states run their own versions of the same idea, and the questions are similar, which is why a look at how Oregon handles cottage food can help you understand the shape of these rules before you sit down with the Washington forms.
What the Washington permit lets you sell
The permit is for food that is not potentially hazardous. The state names baked goods, candies, jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butters and dry spice blends, and the application paperwork also lists dry herbs, dry herb blends and dry tea blends produced in a home kitchen. If your plan is cakes, cookies, quick breads, fudge or jarred jam, you are in the right lane. Anything that needs refrigeration to stay safe is a different conversation.
How to apply, step by step
Confirm your foods are allowed
Check that everything on your menu is not potentially hazardous. Baked goods, candies, jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butters and dry spice blends are the examples the state gives.
Draw your kitchen
The application asks for a floor plan. Sketch your counters, sink, oven and storage so a stranger could picture the room.
Write out your production process
Describe how a batch actually moves through your kitchen, start to finish. Keep it plain and true to what you do.
List your equipment and utensils
Mixers, pans, scales, jars, lids, thermometers. Everything you use to make and package your bakes.
Send the application and wait for approval
Once it is approved, a WSDA Food Safety Compliance Specialist contacts you to schedule a visit and confirm food safety standards are being met.
Keep it current
Renew each year and watch your sales against the yearly maximum.
Before you mail anything, walk your kitchen with the application in hand. If the floor plan you drew does not match the room, fix the drawing or fix the room. The visit after approval is there to check that food safety standards are being met, so the calmer and more accurate your paperwork is, the less there is to sort out later.
Staying inside the rules once you are selling
There is a maximum allowable annual gross sales amount for a cottage food operation. If your gross sales go past it, you have two choices: get a food processing plant license under chapter 69.07 RCW, or cease operations. Ask the department for the current figure rather than working from a number you heard secondhand, and keep a simple running total of what you take in so you are never surprised in December. Bakers in other states face the same ceiling, and Idaho’s version is a useful comparison for how the limits are worded.
One more thing worth knowing: a valid cottage food permit keeps you out of food processing plant permitting and inspection under chapter 69.07 RCW. That is the whole point of the permit. It is a lighter path built for home kitchens, and it only stays light if you stay inside its limits.
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Common questions
Is it a cottage food license or a permit in Washington?
The state issues a Washington State Cottage Food Permit. The word license gets used a lot online, but the thing you apply for and renew each year is a permit from the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
What foods can I make under the permit?
Food that is not potentially hazardous. The state lists baked goods, candies, jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butters and dry spice blends, and the application also names dry herbs, dry herb blends and dry tea blends produced in a home kitchen.
Do I also need a food processing plant license?
No, not while your permit is valid. A cottage food operation with a valid permit under RCW 69.22.030 is not subject to chapter 69.07 RCW or to permitting and inspection under that chapter. That changes if your gross sales pass the yearly maximum.
What happens after my application is approved?
A WSDA Food Safety Compliance Specialist contacts you to schedule a visit, to make sure food safety standards are being met in your kitchen.
What does the application ask for?
Technical details about your operation: a floor plan, your production process, and a list of your equipment and utensils.
What if I sell more than the yearly maximum?
You must either obtain a food processing plant license under chapter 69.07 RCW or cease operations.
Sources
This is general information about Washington cottage food rules, not legal or tax advice. Rules and the annual sales maximum can change. Confirm the current requirements with the Washington State Department of Agriculture before you apply or sell.