How to Start a Cottage Food Business in Michigan

The Short Version

Starting a cottage food business in Michigan requires no state cottage-food license, permit, pre-opening inspection, or cottage-food fee. The cottage food exemption under MCL 289.4102 lets you produce and sell non-potentially hazardous foods from your home kitchen as long as you stay within a few clear boundaries. There is no application to submit to MDARD — you are exempt by default as long as you follow the rules.

That said, "no license required" does not mean "no rules." The exemption is conditional, and violating any of its parameters can lead to product seizure, MDARD enforcement action, and personal liability. Here is what you actually need to do.

Step 1: Confirm Your Products Are Eligible

Cottage food products must be shelf-stable at room temperature. The legal term is "non-potentially hazardous" or non-TCS (Time/Temperature Control for Safety). If your product needs refrigeration to stay safe, it cannot be made under the cottage food exemption.

What qualifies: breads, cookies, muffins, brownies, fruit pies with shelf-stable fillings, hard candies, granola, dry mixes, roasted coffee beans, fruit-only jams and jellies (meeting 21 CFR Part 150), dried pasta, and chocolate-covered pretzels.

What does not qualify: cheesecake, cream pies, custard-filled pastries, pickles, salsas, hot sauce, jerky, pet treats, beverages of any kind, and anything with cream cheese frosting or fresh fruit toppings that require cold storage.

If your signature product falls on the prohibited side, the cottage food path will not work — you would need a licensed commercial kitchen from the start.

Step 2: Check Your Local Zoning

Michigan's cottage food law does not override local zoning ordinances. Many municipalities require a home occupation permit for any business run from a residential address. Some HOAs and deed restrictions explicitly prohibit commercial activity.

Before you invest in ingredients and packaging, call your local zoning office and ask whether a home-based food production business is permitted at your address. If a permit is required, apply before you start selling. The cost is typically minimal, but operating without one can create problems you did not expect.

Step 3: Set Up Your Kitchen

Your kitchen does not need to pass a health inspection, but it does need to meet basic sanitation standards. MDARD can inspect your kitchen in response to a consumer complaint, and what they find matters.

Practical steps:

• Exclude pets from the kitchen during all production and packaging
• Store ingredients and finished products at least 6 inches off the floor
• Sanitize all food-contact surfaces before production (unscented bleach at 50–99 ppm, verified with test strips)
• Do not prepare family meals simultaneously with cottage food production
• If you are on a private well, test your water annually for coliform bacteria and nitrates

Step 4: Design Compliant Labels

Every cottage food product must have a label — either printed or legibly handwritten — with these elements:

1. Common name of the product
2. Net weight in both US customary and metric units
3. Complete ingredient list in descending order of predominance
4. Allergen declaration (the nine major allergens: milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, soybeans, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, sesame)
5. Your name and home address (or MSU Product Center registration number plus phone number)
6. The verbatim MDARD disclaimer in at least 11-point font: "Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan department of agriculture and rural development."

The disclaimer must contrast sharply against the label background — light text on a light background does not comply.

Step 5: Consider the MSU Product Center Registration

Since March 24, 2026, you can replace your home address on labels with a registration number by enrolling in the MSU Product Center's voluntary program. The one-time fee is $50. You receive a code formatted as C-000000000, and your registration records are exempt from FOIA disclosure.

This is optional but worth serious consideration. Printing your home address on every jar of jam or bag of cookies means every customer — and anyone they share the product with — knows exactly where you live.

Step 6: Understand the Sales Rules

The cottage food exemption caps gross annual sales at $50,000 per person. If every product you sell is priced at $250 or more per unit (custom wedding cakes, for example), the cap rises to $75,000. Starting October 1, 2026, both caps adjust annually based on the Detroit CPI.

You can sell through these channels:

• Farmers markets, craft fairs, roadside stands, and festivals
• Home pickup and personal delivery
• Online orders, mail orders, and third-party delivery — but only within Michigan, and only if you offer the buyer a real-time two-way communication option before the sale

You cannot sell wholesale to stores, place products on consignment, or sell to restaurants. Every transaction must be direct-to-consumer.

Step 7: Open a Business Bank Account

Mixing personal and business finances makes tax season painful and makes it harder to prove you stayed under the sales cap. Open a separate checking account in your business name (or your personal name doing business as your brand). Deposit all cottage food revenue there, and pay business expenses from it.

Step 8: Make Your First Sale

Once your products are eligible, your labels are compliant, your kitchen is clean, and any local zoning or home-occupation requirements are satisfied, you can sell. Sign up for a local farmers market, post on social media, or set up online ordering with a two-way communication step.

The Michigan Cottage Food & Home Food Business Guide walks through every step in detail — from product eligibility screening through labeling templates, sales tracking, kitchen sanitation protocols, and the commercial transition path for when you are ready to scale past the cottage food cap.

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