Guide
Maine cottage food law for home bakers
What a home baker in Maine needs before the first sale: Home Food Manufacturing license (the Home Food Processor License), the sales cap, online orders, delivery, and the exact label line, each with its source.
This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. Laws change; check the linked source before you sell. Last reviewed September 25, 2026.
The short version
Maine calls its cottage food track a Home Food Manufacturing license, issued for twenty dollars a year by the state's agriculture department after a one-time kitchen inspection. There is no sales cap and no second inspection once you are licensed, but the license only covers shelf-stable food: anything that needs the refrigerator to stay safe needs a different, heavier license.
A sale straight from your home to the person eating it needs no label at all. The moment the food goes anywhere else, a store shelf, a wholesale order, any public sale, it needs a label with the product's name, its ingredients, its weight or count, and your name and address.
Registering
The rule is administered by Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Division of Quality Assurance and Regulations; the guide reads 01-001 Code of Maine Rules Chapter 345 (Home Food Manufacturing), adopted under 10 MRSA § 2625 and 22 MRSA §§ 2153, 2157(9-B), 2167, 2168 and 2169, effective 1980-12-09, last amended 2008-09-21.
The application is annual and comes with a fee of twenty dollars a year. A Department inspector visits your kitchen once before the first license is issued; nothing requires them to come back every year after that.
Where you can sell, and whether online counts
The rule allows a sale directly from home, through a retail store, or wholesale for further distribution, and does not say a Maine license has to stay inside Maine. It also never mentions selling by phone or online, so read that as not addressed rather than allowed.
What goes on the label
Maine's rule asks for no specific disclosure sentence about being home-produced or uninspected. A sale straight to the consumer from your home needs no label at all; once the product goes to a store, a wholesaler, or any other public sale, it needs the elements listed here
- The common or usual name of the product
- Ingredients in order of predominance
- Net weight or item count
- Your name, address, and zip code as the producer
What you can bake and sell
- Allowed: Shelf-stable foods that do not need refrigeration to stay safe: most baked goods, plus canned or acidified products such as pickles, relishes and jams once their recipe has passed food-safety review
- Not allowed: Anything that has to be refrigerated or frozen to control bacterial growth, such as cream fillings, custard products, meringue-topped bakery items, or butter-cream fillings; home-canned foods that need pressure cooking to seal may not be sold at all
The sales cap
Maine sets no cap on cottage food sales; chapter 345 sets no dollar or volume cap on sales; it licenses the kitchen and the product, not a revenue ceiling.
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 Maine?
Yes, Maine requires registration before the first sale. File a Home Food Manufacturing license application every year with the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, and pass a Department inspection of your kitchen before the license is issued (no annual re-inspection afterward). Any canned or acidified product needs review by the University of Maine Food Testing Services or another acidified-process authority before you can be licensed to sell it. The fee is $20. Set by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, due every year.
Has the cottage food sales cap in Maine changed over time?
No cap from December 9, 1980.
Can I take orders online in Maine?
No, online orders are not allowed. You can hand an order over in person or send it anywhere inside the state.
Can I deliver or ship cottage food in Maine?
The rule does not address delivery. The rule does not address shipping inside the state.
What does my Maine cottage food label need to say?
The label must include: The common or usual name of the product, Ingredients in order of predominance, Net weight or item count, Your name, address, and zip code as the producer.
Sources
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