Kentucky Cottage Food Law (2026): Rules, Limits and How to Start
Do you need a license to sell homemade food in Kentucky?
Kentucky runs two registered programs under the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The Home-Based Processor path covers non-hazardous foods like baked goods, jams and candy for a $50 annual registration fee, with no sales cap of its own. The Home-Based Microprocessor path adds low-acid canned goods and salsas but caps combined sales at $60,000 a year and requires a University of Kentucky workshop plus recipe approval.
To sell homemade food in Kentucky you first register with Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The kitchen stays your own. Foods like baked goods and jams and jellies are on the table once the registration and the label are done, in the order the page below lays out.
Kentucky caps annual cottage food sales at $60,000 combined gross annual sales when operating as a Home-Based Microprocessor. Sources describe the $60,000 figure as tied to the Home-Based Microprocessor program and to combined HBP/HBM activity.
The parts new Kentucky sellers most often get wrong are the exact label disclosure wording and the registration step. Each one has its own row below, with the official source beside it.
How much can you sell? The Kentucky sales cap
The annual sales limit for a Kentucky cottage food operation.
| Item | Kentucky rule |
|---|---|
| Annual sales cap | $60,000 combined gross annual sales when operating as a Home-Based Microprocessor (or combining both registrations); the basic Home-Based Processor registration alone carries no separate cap in KRS 217.136 |
| How it works | Sources describe the $60,000 figure as tied to the Home-Based Microprocessor program and to combined HBP/HBM activity. Verification 2026-07-17: the $60,000 figure could not be located in the official Home-Based Microprocessor regulation text (902 KAR 45:090). A separate search surfaced a $35,000 net-income figure in KRS 217.015's definitions instead. Confirm the precise scope and current figure of the cap with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services before treating $60,000 as a settled hard limit. |
Not published as one current figure everyone cites. Confirm this year's cap with Cabinet for Health and Family Services before you scale.
What foods can you sell in Kentucky?
Allowed and prohibited categories under current Kentucky law.
| Allowed (examples) | Prohibited |
|---|---|
| Baked goods; Jams and jellies; Candy; Dried items; Home-Based Microprocessor path adds: non-fruit or low-sugar jams/jellies, acidified food products, low-acid canned foods (canned tomatoes, green beans, salsa, barbecue sauce, pickles, chutney). | Acid foods, acidified foods, formulated acid foods and low-acid canned foods under the basic Home-Based Processor registration (these require the separate Home-Based Microprocessor registration instead). |
Kentucky cottage food label requirements
Every package you sell needs a label with the elements below in legible print.
- Name and address of the operation
- Product name
- Ingredients in descending order
- Net weight or volume
- Processing date
- The disclosure statement above, in 10-point type
Kentucky requires this disclosure statement, word for word:
This product is home-produced and processed
Reproduced from Kentucky's cottage food labeling requirements. Confirm the current wording with Cabinet for Health and Family Services before you print a run of labels.
Get the free Kentucky cottage food checklist
The one-page map of the steps, in order, so you can see the whole path at a glance.
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Where can you sell in Kentucky?
The venues and channels Kentucky cottage food operators may use.
| Channel | Allowed in Kentucky? |
|---|---|
| Home pickup or delivery, farmers markets, roadside stands, community events | Yes |
| Online orders | Yes. Must be fulfilled by in-state pickup or personal delivery. |
| Mail or common-carrier shipping | No |
| Home-Based Microprocessor products sold on-farm, at farmers markets or certified roadside stands | Yes. Per secondary sources; Microprocessor sales venues are more restricted than the basic Home-Based Processor path. |
Registration, training and inspection
Registration and permits. Home-Based Processor registration with CHFS (Form DFS-250, $50 annual fee) is required, mandatory since January 1, 2020. Acidified or low-acid canned products require the separate Home-Based Microprocessor registration.
Food safety training. No separate training course for the basic Home-Based Processor registration. The Home-Based Microprocessor path requires a University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension workshop and individual recipe approval.
Kitchen inspection. The Cabinet may conduct annual inspections and must inspect on a complaint or evidence of misbranding or adulteration. Production may be halted for an imminent health hazard.
The fees a Kentucky cottage food seller can expect.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Home-Based Processor annual registration (Form DFS-250) | $50 per year |
| Home-Based Microprocessor training/workshop | approx $50 (University of Kentucky workshop), not confirmed as a fixed state fee |
| Home-Based Microprocessor recipe approval | approx $5 per recipe, not independently confirmed against a CHFS fee schedule |
Not published centrally. Confirm the current amount with Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
