Colorado just rewrote its cottage food ceiling

Colorado just rewrote its cottage food ceiling

Colorado HB 1033 expands the "Colorado Cottage Foods Act" to allow sales of homemade foods requiring time and temperature control — including those with USDA-inspected meat, such as tamales and burritos. Producers may sell one type of these products, up to 5 varieties, and must register with the state, follow temperature and labeling requirements, and complete a food safety course. Small egg producers can sell up to 250 dozen eggs per month. The revenue cap adjusts annually for inflation, jumping from $10,000 to $150,000. The law is effective June 4, 2026, though some provisions may not kick in until 2027.

Gobble's Take: That's not a tweak — that's a new fence on a much bigger lot. Source: Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund

Michigan is still the no-registration speedrun

Michigan's cottage food rules require no permit, no fees, no mandatory training, and no kitchen inspection. Online sales are allowed — including shipping to customers and third-party delivery through services like DoorDash and Instacart — and multiple cottage food operations are permitted per residence. The path for home bakers is short: make the product, label it correctly, start selling.

Gobble's Take: Michigan skipped the toll booth entirely and just painted the fast lane green. Source: Perplexity Search

Idaho and Indiana are both pushing local roadblocks out of the way

Idaho SB 1283 allows sales of homemade shelf-stable and perishable foods — with certain meat exceptions — and bars local licensing requirements from going stricter than state and federal rules. Producers can use a designated agent for delivery, and sales are permitted at farm stands, farms, producers' homes, cooperative or consignment markets, and commercial food establishments when kept separate from other products. Indiana HB 1424 creates new "homestead vendor" and "small farm" definitions for entities with gross sales up to $1.5 million annually, prohibits local entities from layering requirements beyond federal law, expands sales channels and shipping options, and exempts some public buildings used by these vendors from certain building regulations.

Gobble's Take: When states preempt the patchwork, home food sellers get a map instead of a maze. Source: Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund

The paperwork is still the part that trips people up

Home bakers typically encounter some mix of cottage food permits or registrations, business licenses, food handler cards, sales tax permits, zoning approvals, and HOA rules. Some states require no permit at all; others use simple forms with fees ranging from $0 to $75. About half of all states require a food handler's certificate, usually earned through a 2-to-4-hour online course costing $10 to $25. Municipalities may also require a written zoning approval before a single cookie leaves the kitchen.

Gobble's Take: The recipe is the easy part. The paperwork is where the crumbs pile up into a real mess. Source: Perplexity Search

In Case You Missed It

Yesterday's top stories:

• Hawaii’s homemade food framework just got a wider menu
• The big cottage-food map is still a patchwork of caps, channels, and local land mines
• Georgia’s home-seller rule now says no revenue cap, but the label still bites
• Idaho’s cottage-food fight is still moving, and the next stop is the Governor’s desk