Selling homemade food in Kansas.

The 2-minute version

Three cards, the whole story. Everything below is detail — with the actual laws linked, so you never have to take our word for it.

One simple way to sell — plus a narrow door for refrigerated treats

Kansas has no statute named “cottage food law.” Instead its food-licensing law (K.S.A. 65-689) carries a broad exemption: if you sell food directly to the person eating it, and that food doesn’t need refrigeration or specialized processing, you need no license, no registration, no fee — and there’s no sales cap. That’s the whole everyday path. The interesting part is cheesecake: it can’t come off the everyday exemption (it needs refrigeration), but the under-7-day rule lets you sell it license-free on a few market days a year, kept cold. Same product, two answers — and the second one is on the calendar, not the recipe.

To sell refrigerated foods year-round (cheesecake more than 6 days, dough, cut produce, meals), you move to a KDA Food Establishment license — inspection and fees, and per KDA generally not from a regular home kitchen. To sell wholesale — to a store, restaurant, or on consignment — you need a KDA Food Processing license; the direct-to-consumer exemption never covers selling to another business for resale. (New in 2026: beekeepers got a narrow exception that lets them sell honey to retailers without a license — see “What changed.”)

Sources: K.S.A. 65-689 · KDA — MF3138 · K.A.R. 4-28-33

Where you can sell

From home and around town. Your porch, plus farmers markets, craft shows, bazaars, fairs, and similar events where the person who made the food sells their own product. Bulk into the customer’s own clean container is allowed for exempt foods.

Online and shipped. Kansas is one of the states that lets you take orders and ship: the exemption “would also apply to exempt foods sold online and shipped to the customer’s home or delivered by the producer directly to the end consumer.” One caveat KDA flags — for online sales to someone in another state, “the seller must also follow the rules of the receiving state(s).”

The hard boundary — never wholesale. No selling to a restaurant, grocery, variety, or convenience store for resale; consignment sales are also out. Any sale “to another business entity for use, resale, or further distribution” needs a KDA Food Processing license. Every exempt sale runs from you to the person who’s eating it. (Honey to retailers is the one 2026 exception — see “What changed.”)

Sources: KDA — MF3138 · K.S.A. 65-689

What you can sell

Sources: KDA — MF3138 · K.S.A. 65-689

The rules that actually matter

• No sales cap of any kindK.S.A. 65-689 sets no dollar or volume limit on the direct-to-consumer exemption. (The only Kansas food-sales dollar cap is the separate honey path — $35,000/yr — see “What changed.”)
• Direct-to-consumer only — no wholesaleSelling to a business for resale, or on consignment, needs a Food Processing license. Every exempt sale runs from you to the person eating it.
• The refrigerated door is a calendar limit6 or fewer days a year for refrigerated, non-specialized foods, held at ≤41°F. And no specialized-processing foods (jerky, pickling, curing, fermenting, sprouting) without a license, ever — regardless of how few days you sell.
• No routine inspection — but it’s conditionalExempt sellers aren’t inspected on a schedule, but the exemption “shall not be exempt from inspection or regulation when a violation is observed or reported to the secretary.” The honest frame: nobody inspects you on a calendar; KDA can act on a complaint. Basic sanitation still applies (K.A.R. 4-28-33). No food-handler card is required.

Sources: K.S.A. 65-689 · KDA — MF3138 · K.A.R. 4-28-33

Getting set up

Sources: KDA — MF3138 · K.S.A. 65-689 · K.A.R. 4-28-33

Labels

The two labels carry different rules — get the path right first. The everyday path needs no “homemade” / “uninspected” disclaimer (a real Kansas differentiator). The honey exemption is the exception: it carries its own required verbatim disclaimer, scoped to honey only. Separately, if you sell unpasteurized juice or cider, a warning statement is required on the label per the Kansas Food Code — confirm the exact wording against the Code before printing it.

Sources: K.S.A. 65-665 · KDA — MF3138 · enrolled 2026 HB 2158

What changed recently

• HB 2158 — beekeeper honey exemption, signed April 9, 2026A new exemption — K.S.A. 65-689(d)(15) — lets a Kansas beekeeper sell packaged honey and honeycombs, including to retailers for resale, with no food establishment or food processing license, if all hold: honey packaged on the beekeeper’s own property; the label carries, in legible English, a honey/honeycomb designation, the beekeeper’s name + address + zip, the net weight, and the verbatim disclaimer “Product not subject to routine inspection by the Kansas department of agriculture.”; the honey is unaltered (raw, no additives, not pasteurized); the hives were located in Kansas when harvested; annual gross honey sales do not exceed $35,000; the beekeeper meets KDA’s minimum sanitary packaging standards; and keeps sales records available to KDA. This is the one place Kansas now lets a home producer sell to a retailer — honey only — without a Food Processing license. (KDA’s MF3138, rev. Jan 2024, predates the bill and still says wholesale honey needs a license — the statute controls now.)
• Effective on publication — in time for the 2026 seasonHB 2158 takes effect “from and after its publication in the statute book” — i.e. on publication of the 2026 session laws, not a fixed July 1 date. It’s enacted (signed April 9, 2026) and in effect for the 2026 season.
• No other 2024–2026 cottage-food statutory changes foundTargeted searches of the 2024 and 2025-26 sessions surfaced no other bill amending K.S.A. 65-689 or creating a separate homemade-food / food-freedom act. (A search-based absence, not an exhaustive index sweep.) Earlier context: 2022’s SB 346 legalized on-farm retail sales of raw milk — peripheral to porch shops, and on-farm-only.

Sources: enrolled 2026 HB 2158 · HB 2158 status page · K.S.A. 65-771 (raw milk)

Common questions

Do I need a license or permit to sell baked goods from home in Kansas?

No. For shelf-stable foods sold direct to the consumer, Kansas requires no cottage food license, registration, permit, or fee — anyone selling you one is selling something that doesn’t exist. You do need a state sales-tax certificate, but that’s a tax document, not a food credential.

Is there a limit on how much I can earn in Kansas?

No — the direct-to-consumer exemption has no sales cap. The only Kansas food dollar cap is the separate beekeeper honey path, $35,000 a year.

Can I sell cheesecake from home in Kansas?

Not on the everyday path — cheesecake needs refrigeration, which normally requires a KDA Food Establishment license. But Kansas has an unusual opening: you can sell cheesecake (and other refrigerated, non-specialized foods) license-free if you sell on 6 or fewer days a year, kept at 41°F or below. Sell on a 7th day and you need the license from that point. Note this calendar door does not cover specialized-processing foods like jerky or pickles.

Can I sell home-canned applesauce or jam in Kansas?

Yes — traditional fruit jams/jellies, apple butter, and shelf-stable high-acid canned foods (applesauce, canned fruits, high-acid fruit pie filling) may be canned in a home kitchen without a license for direct-to-consumer sales, per KDA. Low-acid canned vegetables and acidified/pickled foods are a different story — those need a license.

Can I sell pickles or fermented foods in Kansas?

Not without a license. Acidifying, pickling, and fermenting are “specialized processing” — a license is required regardless of how few days you sell, even for one day.

Do I have to label my food “homemade” or “uninspected” in Kansas?

No — Kansas explicitly does not require that label, unlike most cottage-food states. You still need the product name, your name + address, ingredients, and net quantity. (Honey sold under the 2026 beekeeper exemption is the one exception — it carries its own required disclaimer.)

Can a grocery store or restaurant carry my cookies in Kansas?

No — that’s wholesale, and the direct-to-consumer exemption doesn’t cover it; consignment is out too. Selling to a business for resale needs a KDA Food Processing license. Honey is the one 2026 exception — a qualifying beekeeper can sell honey to retailers.

Does anyone inspect my kitchen in Kansas?

Not on a schedule. KDA may inspect or regulate only when a violation is observed or reported. No food-handler card or training is required for exempt sellers.