Cottage food rules
New Cottage Food Laws in South Carolina
What South Carolina allows, and how to check it before you take the next order.
On this page
What to remember
- Certain non-hazardous foods can be made and sold from your home kitchen.
- No commercial kitchen license is required for those foods.
- No state license for most homemade foods, and no dollar cap on sales.
- Home-based food is not considered an approved source under Regulation 61-25.
- The SC Department of Agriculture guidance book is the official explainer.
If you have been selling cakes and cookies to neighbors and want to keep going, the rules you need are already written down. South Carolina runs its cottage food rules through the Home-based Food Production Law, and the state publishes a guidance document so home producers get clear and consistent information. Read that book before you print a label or take a deposit from someone new.
What the Home-based Food Production Law covers
The law allows home producers to make and sell certain non-hazardous foods directly to consumers without a commercial kitchen license. That is the heart of it. You are not opening a restaurant and you are not renting kitchen time to do it. The state also requires no license to sell most homemade foods, and it sets no dollar cap on cottage food sales, so there is no state ceiling on what you can bring in.
Other states keep reworking their cottage food rules, and it helps to see how the wording shifts from place to place. Our guide to new cottage food laws in Indiana walks through one example, and Kentucky cottage food laws covers a neighbor with a different set of limits.
Where home-baked food can go
This is the part bakers get wrong. Food produced by a home-based food production operation in South Carolina must not be considered to be from an approved source, which is what a retail food establishment is required to use under Regulation 61-25. At the same time, Regulation 61-25 addresses home-based food that is not subject to the state’s food safety regulations, and it provides that home-based food may be served or used as an ingredient in a retail setting. Read those two points together before you agree to supply a cafe or a shop.
How to check the rules before your next order
Rules get updated, and the version you read two years ago may not be the one in force today. Work from the state’s own documents rather than a screenshot in a Facebook group.
Start with the state guidance book
The SC Department of Agriculture publishes a Home-based Food Production guidance document to give clear and consistent information about the law for home-based food producers. Read the current version on their site.
Check the Clemson Extension page
Clemson University Extension keeps a resource page explaining South Carolina’s cottage food and home-based food production law. Use it as a plain-language second read.
Look at Regulation 61-25 if retail is on your list
The regulation covers home-based food that is not subject to the state’s food safety regulations and says that home-based food may be served or used as an ingredient in a retail setting.
Then sort your labels
Label rules differ from state to state. Our guide to Michigan cottage food law label requirements shows the kind of detail those rules can carry.
Once you know what you can sell and where it can go, the rest is ordinary bakery work: costing each recipe, packing it well, and getting paid without chasing people for cash.
Common questions
Do I need a license to sell homemade food in South Carolina?
The state requires no license to sell most homemade foods. Certain non-hazardous foods can be made and sold directly to consumers without a commercial kitchen license.
Is there a limit on how much I can sell?
The state sets no dollar cap on cottage food sales in South Carolina.
Can I sell my bakes to a shop or cafe?
Home-based food may be served or used as an ingredient in a retail setting under Regulation 61-25, but it is not considered to be from an approved source. Confirm the details with the state before you take that order.
Where do I find the official rules?
The SC Department of Agriculture publishes a Home-based Food Production guidance book, and Clemson University Extension keeps a resource page explaining the law.
How do I know if the rules have changed since I last checked?
Go back to the current guidance book on the SC Department of Agriculture site and the Clemson Extension page. Those two are where the state and the university keep the explanation up to date.
Sources
This is general information for home bakers, not legal or tax advice. Rules change. Confirm what applies to your kitchen with the South Carolina Department of Agriculture before you sell.