Cottage food rules
Does Minnesota Have Cottage Food Laws?
What Minnesota's cottage food law says, and the one thing you do every year.
On this page
What to remember
- Minnesota’s cottage food rules sit in Minnesota Statutes section 28A.152.
- The Cottage Food Exemption law went into effect in 2015.
- You register with the commissioner every year, not once.
- The law covers training and registration, the types of food allowed, food labeling, the types of sales locations, and the amount of sales permitted.
- The exemption reaches home-processed and home-canned pickles, vegetables, and fruits with a specified equilibrium pH value.
If you are selling bakes out of your kitchen in Minnesota, you are not working in a gray area. There is a written law, it is public, and it is shorter than most people expect. Reading it once, slowly, will tell you more than a hundred posts online.
What the Minnesota cottage food law covers
The Cottage Food Exemption law went into effect in 2015. It covers five things a home baker needs: prior training and registration, the types of food allowed, food labeling, the types of sales locations, and the amount of sales permitted. Treat that list as your checklist. If you can answer all five for your own kitchen, you are in good shape.
You register with the commissioner every year
A person who prepares and sells exempt cottage food must register annually with the commissioner. The commissioner has to register a person within 30 days of receiving a complete registration. So there is a real clock on it once your paperwork is in, and it starts again every year.
What the exemption covers, and what to confirm
The exemption covers an individual who prepares and sells home-processed and home-canned food products if the products are pickles, vegetables, or fruits having a specified equilibrium pH value. That sentence is narrow on purpose. Read it against what you actually make, and check the statute for the pH value that applies rather than guessing at it.
Cottage food rules are written state by state, so a guide for a neighboring state will not answer a Minnesota question. If you sell near a border or you are simply curious how much paperwork other home bakers carry, our Iowa guide and Illinois guide show how those states lay their rules out.
One more piece of the law worth knowing: money the commissioner receives under the cottage food statute goes into a cottage foods account, a separate account in the agricultural fund in the state treasury. It is a small detail, but it tells you this is a real program with real record keeping behind it.
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Before you print labels or take a single order, open section 28A.152 and read it yourself. Then write down the five areas it covers and answer each one for your kitchen. That hour of reading is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy for a home baking business.
Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from my Minnesota kitchen?
The law centers on registration. A person who prepares and sells exempt cottage food must register annually with the commissioner, and the commissioner must register a person within 30 days of receiving a complete registration. The full wording is in Minnesota Statutes section 28A.152.
How often do I have to register?
Annually. The statute says a person who prepares and sells exempt cottage food must register with the commissioner every year, so it is not a one time task.
How long does registration take?
The commissioner must register a person within 30 days of receiving a complete registration. The count starts when your registration is complete, so check that nothing is missing before you send it.
Does the exemption cover canned pickles and fruit?
The exemption covers an individual who prepares and sells home-processed and home-canned food products if the products are pickles, vegetables, or fruits having a specified equilibrium pH value. Check the statute for the value that applies to what you make.
Does the law say where I can sell?
Yes, types of sales locations are one of the areas the Cottage Food Exemption law covers, along with the amount of sales permitted, the types of food allowed, food labeling, and training and registration. The specifics are in the statute.
Where can I read the rules myself?
Minnesota Statutes section 28A.152 is the law itself, and the state also publishes a plain summary of the Cottage Food Exemption, which went into effect in 2015.
Sources
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm the current text of Minnesota Statutes section 28A.152 before you rely on it for your own shop.