Tennessee Cottage Food Shipping Rules: What You Can and Can't Ship

Tennessee is one of the few states that lets cottage food sellers ship their products. But the permission comes with two hard boundaries — one on what you can ship, and one on where.

What You Can Ship

Only shelf-stable (non-TCS) products can be shipped. That includes baked goods, jams, candies, granola, dried herbs, hot sauces, roasted coffee, and other items that are safe at room temperature.

You can use any commercial carrier: USPS, FedEx, UPS, or another commercial carrier.

Perishable (TCS) foods — cheesecakes, dairy products, eggs, cooked poultry — cannot be shipped under any circumstances, regardless of how they're packaged or insulated. The Food Freedom Act requires all TCS products to be handed directly to the consumer in person.

Where You Can Ship

Every shipment must originate and terminate within Tennessee. The package leaves your Tennessee home kitchen and arrives at a Tennessee address. That's the full extent of the shipping permission.

The moment a package crosses the state line — even to a neighboring address in Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, or any other state — it enters interstate commerce under federal jurisdiction. The FDA regulates interstate food shipments, and the Food Freedom Act's exemption from licensing, inspection, and labeling requirements doesn't extend beyond Tennessee's borders.

There's no volume-based exception. You can't ship one or two packages out of state and claim it's incidental. A single out-of-state shipment technically requires an FDA-registered, inspected commercial kitchen.

Third-Party Delivery Services

The TFFA explicitly protects shipments through commercial mail carriers. It does not protect deliveries through gig-economy courier services or local third-party delivery platforms. Services like DoorDash, Instacart, or Uber Eats aren't covered as authorized distribution channels under the law.

For shelf-stable products, stick to USPS, FedEx, and UPS. For perishable products, the producer must personally hand the food to the customer.

Practical Considerations

Labeling still applies. Shipped products must carry the required producer and product information, including the statutory disclaimer. Net quantity, allergen disclosure, and lot numbers are recommended additions; TCS items also need the production date. The label is all the more important when you're not face-to-face with the buyer — it's the only information the customer has about your product.

Sales tax follows the delivery location. Tennessee sales tax rates vary by county (7% to 9.75% combined rate). When you ship to a customer, you collect and remit at the rate for the delivery address, not your home address.

Documentation matters. Keep records of each shipment showing the origin and destination addresses are both in Tennessee. If the TDA or Department of Revenue ever asks, you want a clean paper trail showing every shipment stayed intrastate.

The Interstate Question

Many home food sellers eventually get asked by out-of-state customers to ship them a product. The answer — under the TFFA — is no.

If interstate shipping is part of your business plan, you'll need to transition that product line to a TDA-licensed commercial facility, register with the FDA, and comply with federal labeling requirements. Some producers handle this by keeping their home-kitchen intrastate business running under the TFFA while licensing a commercial kitchen specifically for interstate orders.

Our Tennessee Cottage Food & Home Food Business Guide covers the full distribution channel rules, shipping documentation practices, and the commercial transition triggers — so you can grow your shipping volume confidently within the legal framework.

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