Cottage food rules
Montana Cottage Food Laws: What Home Bakers Need to Know
A plain read of Montana's cottage food rules, so you know what you can make and sell before you take an order.
On this page
What to remember
- Cottage foods must be made in the kitchen of your primary domestic residence.
- The foods named are baked goods, jam, jellies, preserves, fruit butters, candies, and dry spice blends.
- DPHHS puts out both a guidance document and a registration form.
- Selling without a license is limited to the existing farmer’s market exemptions.
If you bake from your own kitchen in Montana and want to sell what you make, the cottage food rules are the ones that apply to you. They are shorter than most people expect, but the details matter, especially which foods are allowed and where you are allowed to sell them. Here is what the state materials actually say, in plain words.
What counts as a cottage food in Montana
Montana describes a cottage food operation as food that is not potentially hazardous, produced in the kitchen of a person’s primary domestic residence. The examples the state gives are baked goods, jam, jellies, preserves, fruit butters, and dry spice blends. The registration form describes the same operation and lists baked goods, jam, jellies, candies, and dry spice blends. If you are weighing up what to put on your first menu, those two lists together tell you the shape of what is allowed: shelf stable things you make at home.
The preserved products Montana allows as cottage foods, meaning jams, jellies, and some fruit butters, are not the same thing as canned fruits and vegetables. The state points out that they have different characteristics. So do not read the jam allowance as a green light to can and sell vegetables. Anything not on the list is a separate question, and it is worth asking DPHHS about it before you make a batch to sell rather than after.
The registration form and the guidance that comes with it
DPHHS provides Cottage Food Operation Guidance and registration materials, including the information and registration form for cottage foods. Read the guidance first and the form second. The form tells you what to fill in. The guidance tells you what the state expects of you while you are making and selling. Together they cover most of what a home baker needs before the first order.
Read the guidance
Start with the Cottage Food Operation Guidance from DPHHS so you know what the state expects of a home operation.
Check your foods against the list
Baked goods, jam, jellies, preserves, fruit butters, candies, and dry spice blends are the foods the state materials name.
Fill in the registration form
The DPHHS registration form is where your operation goes on record. Complete it before you start selling.
Ask your market what they want
Market organizers often have their own paperwork. Ask early so you are not chasing it the week before.
Keep your papers together
Hold on to your registration and any market paperwork in one place you can find quickly.
Selling without a license at farmers markets
Montana allows cottage foods to be sold to the public without a license in a limited scope through the existing farmer’s market exemptions. The word to hold onto is limited. The exemption is described in terms of farmers markets, so a market stall is the setting the state materials point to, not a blanket permission to sell anywhere you like. If you are planning to sell somewhere other than a farmers market, get that question answered before the date rather than after.
It also helps to see how other states draw their lines, because it makes the Montana rules easier to read. Minnesota’s license rules and Louisiana’s cottage food guidelines are both worth a look next to this page. If you are still working out what goes on your packaging, what goes on a cottage food label covers the pieces most states ask for, and you can check Montana’s own guidance for what applies to you.
Once the paperwork is settled, the thing that decides whether selling actually pays is your price. Work out what a batch truly costs you, packaging included, before you set a number you have to live with all season.
Try the free bake pricing calculator
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Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from my home in Montana?
Montana allows cottage foods to be sold to the public without a license in a limited scope through the existing farmer's market exemptions. DPHHS also publishes Cottage Food Operation Guidance and a registration form. Because the exemption is limited, confirm with DPHHS how it applies to where you plan to sell.
What foods can I sell as a Montana cottage food?
The state materials name baked goods, jam, jellies, preserves, fruit butters, candies, and dry spice blends, all made in the kitchen of your primary domestic residence and all not potentially hazardous.
Can I sell canned vegetables under the cottage food rules?
The preserved products Montana allows are jams, jellies, and some fruit butters, and the state notes that these have different characteristics than canned fruits and vegetables. Canned vegetables are not among the foods the cottage food materials list.
Where do I get the registration form?
DPHHS provides the Cottage Food Operation Guidance and registration materials, including the information and registration form for cottage foods, through its cottage food and farmers market pages.
Does the registration let me sell anywhere in Montana?
The no license route is limited in scope and described through the existing farmer's market exemptions. Treat anything outside a farmers market as a question to put to DPHHS before you sell there.
Sources
This is general information about Montana cottage food rules, not legal advice. Rules can change, and only DPHHS can tell you how they apply to your kitchen. Confirm anything you are unsure about before you sell.