Guide
North Dakota cottage food law for home bakers
What a home baker in North Dakota needs before the first sale: Cottage Food Production and Sales (direct producer-to-consumer sales), 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
North Dakota asks for nothing before you sell: no license, no permit, no fee, no inspection, and no cap on how much you make or earn. The trade is that every sale has to be direct between you and the person eating the food, only for that person's own home consumption, never through a store or a wholesaler.
Unlike most cottage food states, the law does not limit you to shelf-stable food. A cheesecake or a cream pie is fair game as long as it carries safe-handling instructions and a note that it was kept frozen in transit; meat stays off the list except for a narrow allowance for poultry you raised and slaughtered yourself.
Registering
The rule is administered by No licensing agency; the Department of Health and Human Services or a local regulating authority may investigate a complaint; the guide reads N.D. Cent. Code ch. 23-09.5 (Cottage Food Production and Sales), enacted by HB 1433 (2017), effective 2017-08-01.
There is nothing to register and no fee. A state or local health authority can step in only if a producer asks for help, or to investigate a complaint about illness or an environmental health problem.
Where you can sell, and whether online counts
A sale has to run directly between you and the end consumer, for that person's own home consumption, and can happen at a farm, farmers' market, farm stand, your own kitchen, almost any other venue the law does not specifically forbid, or through delivery. The statute bars interstate commerce only for the poultry it separately allows; it says nothing one way or the other about shipping any other cottage food product across state lines.
What goes on the label
"This product is made in a home kitchen that is not inspected by the state or local health department."
What you can bake and sell
- Allowed: Baked goods, jams, jellies, and other food and drink products you produce, including items that need refrigeration, such as baked goods with cream, custard, meringue, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, or cream cheese, as long as those carry safe-handling instructions and a disclosure that the product was transported and kept frozen
- Not allowed: Uninspected products made from meat, and uninspected poultry products unless you slaughter no more than 1,000 birds you raised yourself in a year, buy or sell no other poultry products, and the poultry is not adulterated or misbranded; poultry sold under that exemption may never cross state lines. Apart from whole, unprocessed fruit and vegetables, nothing you make may be sold into a restaurant, food processing plant, or food store
The sales cap
North Dakota sets no cap on cottage food sales; chapter 23-09.5 sets no dollar or volume cap. The effective date is the standard start date for a North Dakota act from the 2017 regular session that carries no separate effective-date clause; the enrolled bill's own effective-date language was not independently read.
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 North Dakota?
No, North Dakota does not require registration. None. No state agency or political subdivision may require a license, permit, certification, inspection, packaging, or label review before you sell; an agency may only step in if a producer asks for its help. Fee: Not stated. The chapter creates no license or permit for a state agency to attach a fee to.
Has the cottage food sales cap in North Dakota changed over time?
No cap from August 1, 2017.
Can I take orders online in North Dakota?
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 North Dakota?
Delivery is allowed. Shipping inside the state is allowed.
What does my North Dakota cottage food label need to say?
The label must say: This product is made in a home kitchen that is not inspected by the state or local health department.
Sources
We are building a shop for home bakers.
Read our story or put your name on the founding bakers list.