Cottage food rules
Minnesota Cottage Food License Rules for Home Bakers
The Minnesota cottage food rules in plain words, so you know what to file before you sell.
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What to remember
- You register annually with the commissioner if you prepare and sell exempt food in Minnesota.
- A complete registration is processed within 30 days of being submitted.
- Safe food handling training applies to sellers who must pay the registration fee, and to sellers with gross receipts between $5,000 and $18,000 in a calendar year.
- The law also covers allowed foods, labels, sales locations, and your yearly sales limit.
The short version is that Minnesota asks you to register each year rather than apply once and forget it. The rest of the law reads like a checklist for your kitchen: what you make, how it is labeled, where it goes, and how much you sell. Read the state’s cottage food guidance once with a pen in hand, because the details sit in the law itself. If you have sold under another state’s rules before, Michigan’s cottage food law is a useful comparison for how differently states word the same ideas.
What the Minnesota cottage food exemption covers
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s cottage food law guidance lists what the law includes: details on training and registration, types of food allowed, food labeling, types of sales locations, and the amount of sales permitted. Those five items are the whole shape of your selling year. Your label, your registration, and your sales plan all lean on the same set of rules, so it pays to read them together instead of one at a time.
Registering with the state each year
An individual who prepares and sells exempt food must register annually with the commissioner. That is the core requirement, and it comes around every year you sell. The commissioner registers an individual within 30 days of a complete registration being submitted, so a complete file is what starts the clock, not a partial one. If you want to see what a cottage food application looks like in another state, Maine’s cottage food license application is a short read.
Work out whether registration applies to you
In Minnesota, an individual who prepares and sells exempt food must register annually with the commissioner. If you sell baked goods from your home kitchen under the exemption, this is your starting point.
Take the training if it applies to you
A person who sells exempt food and is required to pay the registration fee must complete a safe food handling training course approved by the commissioner. The same training requirement applies to an individual with gross receipts between $5,000 and $18,000 in a calendar year from the sale of exempt food.
Send a complete registration
The commissioner registers an individual within 30 days of a complete registration being submitted. Check your file over before you send it so nothing is missing.
Put the next one on the calendar
Registration is annual. The same steps come around each year you keep selling, so set a reminder next to your market dates.
Training, labels, and where you can sell
Safe food handling training is tied to money rather than to every single seller. A person who sells exempt food and is required to pay the registration fee must complete a safe food handling training course approved by the commissioner, and the same requirement applies to an individual with gross receipts between $5,000 and $18,000 in a calendar year from the sale of exempt food. If your year lands in that band, the course is part of doing business.
The law also reaches your labels and your selling spots. Food labeling and types of sales locations are both named in the cottage food guidance, which means the label on your box and the place you hand it over are covered by the same rules you registered under. For a sense of how detailed a cottage food label can get, Michigan’s cottage food law labels walks through another state’s version.
The amount of sales permitted is part of the law too, which is why the $5,000 to $18,000 training band matters in practice. Keep a simple running total of what you take in during the year so you know where you stand before December, and check the state’s cottage food guidance for the current sales figure rather than relying on what someone told you at a market.
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Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from my Minnesota home kitchen?
Minnesota handles this through the cottage food exemption, which has been in state law since 2015. An individual who prepares and sells exempt food must register annually with the commissioner. The guidance covers training and registration, types of food allowed, labeling, sales locations, and the amount of sales permitted.
How long does the registration take?
The commissioner registers an individual within 30 days of a complete registration being submitted. A complete file is what starts the clock.
Do I have to take a food safety class?
A person who sells exempt food and is required to pay the registration fee must complete a safe food handling training course approved by the commissioner. The same requirement applies to an individual with gross receipts between $5,000 and $18,000 in a calendar year from the sale of exempt food.
Is there a limit on how much I can sell?
The cottage food law includes the amount of sales permitted, and that figure sits in the state's cottage food guidance. Read it before you plan your year so you are not guessing.
Do I register once or every year?
Every year. An individual who prepares and sells exempt food must register annually with the commissioner.
Sources
This is general information about Minnesota cottage food rules, not legal advice. Requirements can change, so confirm the details with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the statute before you sell.