Rules and licenses
Florida cottage food rules are a narrow home kitchen lane
Florida cottage food rules can let certain low-risk foods be sold from a home kitchen, but the lane has limits.
A home kitchen can be a real starting point for a small Florida food business, but only for the right food.
Florida’s cottage food lane allows certain low-risk foods to be made in an unlicensed home kitchen and sold directly to consumers without an FDACS food permit. The state page also lists a $250,000 annual gross sales ceiling for a cottage food operation.
That can work for some simple baked goods, candies, dry mixes, jams, or other allowed products. It is not a shortcut for every food idea. Hot meals, foods that need time and temperature control, many drinks, wholesale plans, shipping questions, and sales through another business can change the answer.
The label matters too. Cottage food buyers should be able to see who made the product and that it came from a cottage food operation.
Before selling at a farmers market, online, or from a porch pickup table, check the FDACS cottage food page and the market’s own rules. Also check city, county, HOA, lease, and tax questions before the first busy weekend.
Official sources
Last checked against these sources: July 1, 2026.