Sell Honey From Home in Tennessee: Rules for Honey, Coffee, Granola, and Dried Herbs

Honey, Coffee, Granola, and Herbs Under the TFFA

These four product categories are among the most popular for new Tennessee cottage food producers — and all four qualify as non-TCS (shelf-stable) foods under the Food Freedom Act. For products within the TFFA's scope, the full range of sales channels is open: in-person sales, online orders, in-state shipping via USPS/FedEx/UPS, and wholesale to retail stores.

For products within the TFFA's scope, no state food permit, routine kitchen inspection, or food safety certification is required. The standard TFFA label requirements apply to products sold under the TFFA.

Honey: The 150-Gallon Threshold

Raw and processed honey is legal to sell from home in Tennessee, but honey has its own regulatory layer above the TFFA. Once a beekeeper sells more than 150 gallons of honey annually, a separate state permit is required through the Tennessee Department of Agriculture's apiary program.

Below 150 gallons (roughly 1,800 pounds, or about 1,800 one-pound jars), you operate under the standard cottage food framework. Above that threshold, you're in commercial honey territory and need to contact the TDA's apiary division.

For most backyard beekeepers and small-operation honey sellers, the 150-gallon limit is generous. A productive hive yields 30-60 pounds of honey per year. You'd need 30-60 hives producing at peak to hit the threshold.

Labeling honey: Use the required TFFA label information. List the product as "Raw Honey" or "Honey" (common name), include your name and physical home address, phone number, ingredient list, and the statutory disclaimer. Net weight in ounces/pounds and grams, allergen disclosure, and a production or harvest date are recommended additions. If you add flavoring ingredients (cinnamon, vanilla, lavender), list those in the ingredient declaration.

Roasted Coffee

Home-roasted coffee beans and ground coffee are shelf-stable, non-TCS products — straightforward under the TFFA. You can sell them through all channels including wholesale to cafés' retail areas and specialty shops.

The labeling challenge with coffee is net weight accuracy. Coffee beans lose 15-20% of their weight during roasting, and ground coffee settles and compacts differently than whole bean. Weigh your final packaged product — not the pre-roast green beans — and list that weight on the label.

Ingredient considerations: Single-origin beans need only "Roasted Coffee Beans" or "Ground Coffee" as the product name. Flavored coffees require a full ingredient declaration listing the flavoring agents, and any allergen-containing flavors (hazelnut, for example, is a tree-nut allergen) should be identified in your allergen disclosure.

Granola and Trail Mixes

Granola, trail mixes, nut mixes, and similar dry snack products are shelf-stable non-TCS items. They're a strong cottage food product because they have long shelf lives, ship well, and appeal to wholesale accounts like coffee shops and boutiques.

Allergen attention: Granola recipes frequently contain multiple major allergens — wheat (oats processed on shared equipment), tree nuts, peanuts, soy (in chocolate chips), and milk (in butter or chocolate). Allergen disclosures are recommended; when you include one, explicitly declare every allergen present, including allergens in sub-ingredients. "Chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, milk)" — the parenthetical sub-ingredients aren't optional.

Nutritional claims: The TFFA doesn't require nutritional labeling, but if you voluntarily make claims like "high protein" or "low sugar," you're subject to FDA food labeling regulations (21 CFR Part 101) for those specific claims. Easier to skip the claims and let the ingredient list speak for itself.

Dried Herbs and Spice Blends

Dried herbs — culinary (oregano, basil, thyme) or tea blends (chamomile, peppermint, lavender) — are among the simplest cottage food products to produce and label. They're shelf-stable, lightweight for shipping, and have excellent margins.

Labeling dried herbs: A single-ingredient product (dried oregano) needs the product name, your name, physical home address, phone number, ingredient list, and disclaimer. Net weight and allergen disclosure are recommended additions. Multi-ingredient tea blends or spice rubs need the full ingredient declaration in descending order by weight.

Quality considerations: While not legally required, listing the harvest or drying date helps buyers assess freshness. Dried herbs stored in airtight containers in cool, dark conditions maintain potency for 1-3 years depending on the herb, but customers appreciate the transparency.

Sales Channels for All Four

Because honey, coffee, granola, and dried herbs are all non-TCS:

• In-person: Farmers markets, craft fairs, roadside stands, home sales
• Online: Accept orders through your website, social media, Etsy, or Shopify
• Shipping: Ship within Tennessee using any commercial carrier
• Wholesale: Sell to grocery stores, boutiques, co-ops, gift shops, and specialty retailers
• Prohibited: Cannot ship out of state, cannot sell to restaurants as menu ingredients

Getting Started

For products within any applicable product-specific thresholds, the four categories share the same compliance path: classify your product as non-TCS (which these inherently are), design your TFFA-compliant label, register your sales tax account on TNTAP if your monthly gross sales average more than $400, and get your local Minimal Activity License once you exceed $3,000 in annual gross receipts.

The Tennessee Cottage Food & Home Food Business Guide includes a Label Builder Worksheet that generates compliant labels for shelf-stable products, plus a Batch Production Log for tracking inventory across multiple product lines.

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