Flourish Bakers

Guide

Kentucky cottage food law for home bakers

What a home baker in Kentucky needs before the first sale: Home-based processor registration, the sales cap, online orders, delivery, and the exact label line, each with its source.

SAMPLE LABEL Grandma's Sourdough Loaf Contains: wheat, milk, eggs May contain: tree nuts This product is home-produced and processed THE NINE ALLERGENS Milk Eggs Wheat Soy Peanuts Tree nuts Sesame Fish Shellfish

This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. Laws change; check the linked source for your state before you sell. Last reviewed September 18, 2026.

$60,000sales cap
$50to register
Yesonline orders

The short version

Kentucky calls this track the home-based processor registration: a $50 annual registration with the Food Safety Branch, a $60,000 income cap, and no required training for baked goods.

A second, farmer-only track called the home-based microprocessor lets a Kentucky farmer can, jar or preserve acidified foods after completing a certification course; that track is not this row.

Registering

The rule is administered by Kentucky Department for Public Health, Food Safety Branch (Cabinet for Health and Family Services); the guide reads KRS 217.136 and the 'home-based processor' definition in KRS 217.015(56), both as amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 52 (eff. 2026-07-15); 902 KAR 45:090.

She registers each year on a DFS-250 form with the Food Safety Branch, naming her home address and the products she makes, and pays a $50 fee. The registration expires March 31 and renews on the same form and fee. Inspection only happens if a consumer complains.

Where you can sell, and whether online counts

She can advertise and take orders in person, online, by phone, or electronically, and can sell from her home by pick-up or delivery, at a roadside stand, or at a flea market, farmers market, festival, county fair, craft fair, or non-profit charity event. Everything stays inside Kentucky and goes directly to the consumer, never to a reseller.

What goes on the label

Every product needs the name and address of her home-based processing operation, the common name of the food, ingredients by weight, net weight, the date processed, allergen information, and the fixed sentence in at least ten-point type.

"This product is home-produced and processed"

  • The name and address of the home-based processing operation
  • The common or usual name of the food product
  • The ingredients, in descending order of predominance by weight
  • The net weight and volume, by standard measure or numerical count
  • The fixed statement, in ten-point type
  • The date the product was processed
  • Allergen information under federal law

What you can bake and sell

Breads, cakes, cookies, fruit pies, jams, jellies, candy, dried herbs and spices, nuts, and similar shelf-stable foods qualify. Acidified or low-acid canned foods, like pickles or home-canned vegetables, fall under the separate microprocessor track instead.

  • Allowed: Nonpotentially hazardous foods including dried herbs, spices, nuts, candy, dried grains, whole fruit and vegetables, mixed greens, jams, jellies, sweet sorghum syrup, preserves, fruit butter, bread, fruit pies, cakes, and cookies
  • Not allowed: Acid foods, acidified food products, formulated acid food products, and low-acid canned foods, which sit under Kentucky's separate home-based microprocessor track for farmers only

The sales cap

Kentucky caps cottage food sales at $60,000 a year, counted as gross income per home-based processor per year, from sale of the products.

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

What changed

January 1, 2020: 902 KAR 45:090 first required home-based processors to register with the Food Safety Branch on a DFS-250 form.

July 15, 2026: 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 52 amended KRS 217.136 and 217.015(56) to add pork-lard and tallow-based cosmetic products to what a home-based processor may make and to simplify the registration language.

Questions people ask

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

Yes, Kentucky requires registration before the first sale. Register with the Food Safety Branch on a DFS-250 application naming her physical production address and the products she will make; the registration expires March 31 each year and renews on the same form. The fee is $50. A $50 registration fee, due with the initial application and again with each annual renewal.

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

$60,000 a year from July 15, 2026, counted as gross income per home-based processor per year, from sale of the products.

Can I take orders online in Kentucky?

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 Kentucky?

Delivery is allowed. The rule does not address shipping inside the state.

What does my Kentucky cottage food label need to say?

The label must say: This product is home-produced and processed

Sources

When the law changes

Tell me when Kentucky's cottage food law changes

We read the statute, not a summary of it. When it moves, this address hears from us. That is all the email is for.

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