South Dakota cottage food law for home bakers

The short version

South Dakota does not ask for a state license or a fee to sell baked goods, canned goods, or a handful of trained-producer extras made at home, and it sets no dollar limit on how much you can sell in a year.

The trade-off is that the sale itself has to happen with you standing in front of the buyer: at your home, a farmers market, a roadside stand or a similar temporary spot, with you or someone who lives with you handing over the food when the sale is made. The health department's own guidance calls a sale from a retail store or over the internet an indirect sale, and says that needs a state license instead of the cottage exemption.

That in-person rule means an order taken and paid for online, then handed to the buyer later, does not fit the exemption as written. If you want to sell through an online storefront in South Dakota, that would put you outside this exemption and into the licensed side of the law.

Registering

The rule is administered by South Dakota Department of Health (SDDOH); the guide reads S.D. Codified Laws §§ 34-18-35 to 34-18-38, as amended by 2022 House Bill 1322 (enrolled act 744, 97th Legislative Session), which added the time-and-temperature-controlled foods provision and the current label disclaimer.

There is nothing to register or renew for this exemption. What changes by product is whether you need the five-year food safety training (or a processing authority's letter) before you can add canned goods past the basic list, or the time-and-temperature-controlled items added in 2022.

Where you can sell, and whether online counts

The exemption from a license and its fee also needs a label that meets every element the law lists. The law exempts only food "sold in the seller's physical presence", so an online sale falls outside the exemption: treat online ordering and shipping as not allowed.

The law's "personally delivers the food to the buyer at the completion of the sale" is the handover at the sale itself. The law says nothing about delivering to the buyer's home.

What goes on the label

Every label needs the product name, your name, your production address, your mailing address, your phone number, the date it was made, the ingredients, and the exact disclaimer sentence the law sets out. Anything sold under the time-and-temperature-controlled rule also needs a line telling the buyer to keep it refrigerated or frozen.

• Name of the product
• Name of the producer
• Physical address of production
• Mailing address of the producer
• Telephone number of the producer
• Date the product was made or processed
• Ingredients
• A directive to keep the food refrigerated or frozen, for anything sold under the time-and-temperature-controlled provision

What you can bake and sell

The 2022 update widened the list past shelf-stable baked goods to include a handful of items that need to stay cold, such as soft pies, cheesecake, custard-filled pastries, fermented foods and frozen fruit, but only for a producer who has done the training. Meat, dairy, eggs and honey sit under other agencies entirely and are never part of this exemption.

• Allowed: Non-temperature-controlled food and baked goods made at your home; home-processed canned goods at or below pH 4.6 or water activity 0.85. With food safety training every five years (or a third-party processing authority's written verification), you can add non-heat-processed fermented food kept at 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below, kuchen and time-and-temperature-controlled baked goods such as soft pies, cheesecake and custard or cream-filled items kept at 41 degrees or below, sauces and pesto kept the same way, and home-processed frozen fruit or produce kept at zero degrees or below.
• Not allowed: Fresh-cut fruit or produce and sprouts, juices and ciders, take-and-bake doughs or unbaked pies and pizzas, and other prepared food such as sandwiches or casseroles all need a state license under the health department's own guidance. Meat, poultry, fish, dairy, honey and eggs answer to a different state or federal agency and are not covered by this law at all.

The sales cap

South Dakota sets no cap on cottage food sales.

See what your state allows, online orders included, with the cottage food sales cap checker.

Questions people ask

Do I need to register to sell cottage food in South Dakota?

No, South Dakota does not require registration. No state license, permit or registration is needed, as long as the food, the label and the sale itself meet the four conditions in the law: an eligible food type, a compliant label, a face-to-face sale at your home, a farmers market, a roadside stand or another temporary venue, and personal delivery by you or someone living at your home at the moment the sale is completed. Fee: Not stated. The law is a straight exemption from licensing and licensing fees, so there is no fee to name.

What is the cottage food sales cap in South Dakota?

South Dakota sets no cap on cottage food sales.

Can I take orders online in South Dakota?

No, online orders are not allowed. The handover has to happen in person.

Can I deliver or ship cottage food in South Dakota?

The rule does not address delivery. Shipping inside the state is not allowed.

What does my South Dakota cottage food label need to say?

The label must say: This product was not produced in a commercial kitchen. It has been home-processed in a kitchen that may also process common food allergens such as tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, soy, wheat, milk, fish, and crustacean shellfish.

Sources

Laws change; check the linked source before you sell.

• 2022 S.D. House Bill 1322, enrolled act amending §§ 34-18-35 to 34-18-38mylrc.sdlegislature.gov
• S.D. Codified Laws § 34-18-38sdlegislature.gov
• SDDOH Farmers Market Guidance for Market Managers & Vendorsdoh.sd.gov