Hawaii cottage food law for home bakers

The short version

Hawaii runs its cottage food track as a home-kitchen exemption inside its general food code rather than a separate law, and a 2024 law widened it substantially: you can now take orders online or by phone, have your food delivered, mailed, or shipped, and sell through a store or restaurant that resells it, all without a food establishment permit.

In exchange you take a Department-approved food safety course, keep your kitchen to the food types the rule allows, label every product with the state's exact sentence, and stay open to a Department inspection if a complaint or an illness report ever points back to you.

Registering

The rule is administered by Hawaii Department of Health, Food Safety Branch; the guide reads Hawaii Administrative Rules Title 11, Chapter 50 (Food Safety Code), Section 11-50-3(c) and Section 11-50-35(c), as amended following Act 195 (2024 HB 2144); authorized by Hawaii Revised Statutes § 321-11.

There is no permit application or fee for the home-kitchen track; the food safety course is the one requirement before you start.

Where you can sell, and whether online counts

Sales can happen directly, by phone, online, through someone acting for you, or through a retail shop, restaurant, or grocery store willing to resell your product, and you can have it delivered, mailed, or shipped to the buyer. The rule is written around sales staying inside Hawaii; it does not address a sale to a buyer in another state.

What goes on the label

"Made in a home kitchen not routinely inspected by the Department of Health"

• The required disclosure statement
• The common name of the food, or a descriptive name if it has none
• A full ingredient list when the food has two or more ingredients, in descending order by weight
• Notice of any major food allergens present
• Your name and contact information

What you can bake and sell

• Allowed: Foods that do not need time or temperature control to stay safe, made or packaged in a home kitchen, plus pickled, fermented, or acidified plant foods within a set acidity or water-activity range, including cut-tomato products such as salsa kept at 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below
• Not allowed: Dried meat or seafood, and cantaloupe or other melon-family fruit that has been pickled, fermented, or acidified; anything needing time or temperature control for safety outside what the rule allows falls back to the regular food establishment permit

The sales cap

Hawaii sets no cap on cottage food sales; neither the rule nor the department's own homemade-food guidance states a dollar or unit sales cap. The date approximates when the home-kitchen exemption was first adopted into Chapter 50; the exact adoption date was not independently confirmed against a dated primary text.

Work out how much room you have left this year with the cottage food sales cap checker.

Questions people ask

Do I need to register to sell cottage food in Hawaii?

No, Hawaii does not require registration. No food establishment permit. The person in charge completes a food safety course approved by the Department of Health, keeps a handwashing sink with cleaning compound available during food preparation, and labels every product as required. Fee: Not stated. A home-kitchen operation is exempt from the permit and its fee schedule; the rule names no separate fee for the exemption itself.

Has the cottage food sales cap in Hawaii changed over time?

No cap from September 2, 2017.

Can I take orders online in Hawaii?

Yes, you can take orders online. You can hand an order over in person or send it anywhere inside the state.

Can I deliver or ship cottage food in Hawaii?

Delivery is allowed. Shipping inside the state is allowed.

What does my Hawaii cottage food label need to say?

The label must say: Made in a home kitchen not routinely inspected by the Department of Health

Sources

• Hawaii Administrative Rules Title 11, Chapter 50, Food Safety Code (Dept. of Health)health.hawaii.gov
• Dept. of Health, Homemade Food Products guidance and FAQhealth.hawaii.gov
• Haw. Code R. § 11-50-35, Food identity, presentation, and on-premises labeling (Cornell LII)law.cornell.edu