Selling homemade food in Vermont.

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.

Two free tiers and three licenses — pick your path

Vermont’s system is one licensing law (18 V.S.A. chapter 85) with license exemptions carved out for small home producers, plus paid licenses for anyone who outgrows an exemption. For a porch shop it splits on one question first: is what you make shelf-stable, and do you stay under $30,000 a year? The cleanest way to see the line: a cheesecake can’t come out of the free cottage path — it needs refrigeration, which makes it a “time/temperature control for safety” food the exemption excludes (same with quiche and cheese danish). Those need a license, not the exemption.

Beyond the home tiers, a non-bakery manufacturer above $10,000 pays $175/yr ($10,001–$50,000 gross) or $275/yr (over $50,000), and commercial bakeries run $200–$350/yr — most porch shops never reach these.

Sources: 18 V.S.A. § 4301 (definitions) · 18 V.S.A. § 4353 (fees + thresholds) · 18 V.S.A. § 4358 (exemption + filing) · VDH — Manufactured Food Rule · VDH — Home-Based Food Licenses & Exemptions

Where you can sell

Built for direct sales to your neighbors. Vermont’s free exemptions are written around a dollar cap, not a venue whitelist — the law doesn’t publish a list of “allowed places” the way some states do. So the honest framing is: it’s designed for selling your own packaged, labeled cottage foods directly to the people eating them. There’s no statutory venue list naming farmers markets, home pickup, or online, so we don’t quote one.

The one hard “no”: licensed food service establishments. Vermont’s guidance is explicit — “food service establishments, like restaurants, may only purchase food products from licensed food manufacturers.” So an exempt cottage operator may not sell to restaurants or other licensed food-service businesses. To sell to a restaurant, you’d need a license.

Prepared meals are a different door. Selling prepared meals, or food to be cooked later at an event, isn’t cottage food at all — that’s a Home Caterer license (and maybe a Temporary Food Service License for the event).

Selling to retail stores (grocers) is unresolved. Vermont’s primary sources we read don’t address whether an exempt operator may sell to a retail store for resale. We don’t claim it either way — confirm with the Health Department before you build on it.

Out of state / shipping. Vermont doesn’t ban it, but “food products crossing state lines are considered interstate commerce and subject to applicable federal rules and regulations,” and the destination state’s laws may apply too. Once a package leaves Vermont you’re in federal (FDA) territory plus the receiving state’s rules.

Sources: 18 V.S.A. § 4301 · VDH — Food Manufacturing Licensing Exemptions

What you can sell

Sources: 18 V.S.A. § 4301 · VDH — Manufactured Food Rule · VDH — Food Manufacturing Licensing Exemptions

The rules that actually matter

• Free of cost, not free of obligationsThe single thing most guides miss: even on the $0 tier, Vermont requires an annual online food-safety training and an annual exemption filing with the Health Department — both confirmed in the rule and the statute, not just guidance. Plan the yearly homework into your calendar.
• The free cottage tier caps at $30,000 a yearGross receipts from cottage food products. The free non-bakery processor tier caps at $10,000, and you can run both at once (up to $30k cottage + up to $10k processed).
• Past the cap you don’t lose the right to sellCross $30k and you move to a paid license ($100/yr home bakery, the relevant processor tier, or a caterer license) — there’s no absolute revenue ceiling in the statute for a licensed home bakery.
• Shelf-stable only, home kitchen only, no restaurantsOn the free tier: nothing refrigerated; no meat, dairy, eggs, or other TCS food; made in your own home kitchen (not a rented or shared commercial kitchen); and no selling to restaurants or other licensed food businesses. Town zoning, home-occupation permits, and any tax registration are set locally and separate from this food law — check yours.

Sources: 18 V.S.A. § 4353 (fees + thresholds) · 18 V.S.A. § 4358 (exemption + filing) · VDH — Manufactured Food Rule · VDH — Food Manufacturing Licensing Exemptions

Getting set up

Sources: 18 V.S.A. § 4358 (exemption + filing) · VDH — Manufactured Food Rule · VDH — Food Processing Establishments · VDH licensing portal

Labels

One important guard: the seven-element label above — including the “not inspected” statement — is the exempt-tier label. If you hold a license instead (Path C home bakery or Path D home caterer), your kitchen is inspected, so you follow your license’s labeling, not this exempt statement — stamping “not inspected” on a licensed product would be false. The verbatim string here is only for the free cottage / processor tier.

Sources: VDH — Manufactured Food Rule § 6.2.1.1 · VDH — Food Manufacturing Licensing Exemptions

What changed recently

• Vermont replaced its whole homemade-food regime — July 1, 2025Act 42 of 2025 (H.401) was signed June 2, 2025 and took effect July 1, 2025. It retired the old home-bakery exemption (capped at about $125 a week, ≈ $6,500/yr) and created today’s framework: a $30,000 license-free cottage tier, a $10,000 non-bakery processor tier, statutory definitions of cottage food operation/operator/product, and the annual training + annual filing duty for exempt operators. If you read an older guide that says Vermont’s home limit is ~$6,500 a year, it’s describing the repealed rule.
• July 2025 — the Emergency RuleThe Health Department adopted a Manufactured Food Emergency Rule to implement Act 42 immediately while the permanent rule was finalized.
• The permanent rule took effect — January 15, 2026The permanent Manufactured Food Rule (final adopted, effective 1/15/2026) is now the governing rule; it carries the label string, the training and filing requirements, and the exemption thresholds cited throughout this page. One maintainer-level wrinkle for anyone double-checking: the live Health Department guidance PDF (dated Nov 2025) still names the older “Emergency Rule,” but its substance — the $30k/$10k thresholds, the verbatim label, the training and filing — is identical to the permanent rule. If the two ever disagree, the statute and rule control.

Sources: Act 42 of 2025 (H.401), as enacted · 18 V.S.A. § 4353 (fees + thresholds) · VDH — Manufactured Food Rule

Common questions

Can I sell cheesecake from home in Vermont?

Not on the free cottage tier — cheesecake needs refrigeration, so it’s a TCS food the exemption excludes (along with quiche and cheese danish). Refrigerated baked goods need a license, not the exemption.

Is the free tier really free?

The license and fee are $0 up to $30,000 a year — but “free” still comes with yearly homework: an annual online training and an annual exemption filing with the Health Department, plus the required label. It’s free of cost, not free of obligations.

What’s the deadline for the yearly filing in Vermont?

The Health Department’s guidance says file in the online portal before January 15 each year. The rule itself phrases it as “a date established by the Department,” so it’s the Department’s current date, not a statutory one — confirm it on the portal when you file.

How much can I sell in Vermont?

Up to $30,000 a year of cottage foods license-free, and you can add up to $10,000 of other processed foods under a second free exemption. Past those, you move to a paid license — there’s no hard revenue ceiling on a licensed home bakery.

Can a restaurant or store buy my cookies in Vermont?

A restaurant or other licensed food business: no — as an exempt operator you can’t sell to them; they may only buy from licensed manufacturers. Whether you may sell to a retail store for resale isn’t addressed in the sources we read — confirm with the Health Department before you count on it.

Can I sell pickles or canned goods from home in Vermont?

Yes, with conditions: home-canned pickles, vegetables, or fruits are allowed as cottage food if they hit an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or lower or a water activity of 0.85 or less, using a recipe approved by the National Center for Home Food Preservation or reviewed by a food-processing authority.

Can I dehydrate jerky or fruit at home to sell in Vermont?

No on both: dehydrated meats are TCS (out), and dehydrated fruits and vegetables need specialized equipment to verify a safe water activity, so Vermont keeps them off the cottage list.

Can I make cottage foods in a rented commercial kitchen in Vermont?

No — the cottage exemption is only for food made in your own home kitchen or a kitchen on your own property; renting space (even a licensed commercial one) means you need a license.

Can I run a dinner out of my home in Vermont?

That’s not cottage food — prepared meals sold direct to customers, or food cooked later at an event, need a Home Caterer license ($155/yr), and possibly a Temporary Food Service License for the event.

Do I need a food-handler card in Vermont?

No separate card beyond the Health Department’s annual online training appears in the law for the free tier.

Can my kid run a stand in Vermont?

Yes — there’s no minor exemption, but there’s also no minimum age, so a young person uses the same free cottage path an adult does: shelf-stable goods, the yearly training and filing, the right label.