Everything you need to sell home-made food in Vermont — legally, confidently, and profitably.
Vermont was one of the first states in the nation to recognize home-based food makers, and it still sits near the top of the pack. Under Vermont's cottage food framework — codified in 18 V.S.A. Chapter 85 and administered by the Vermont Department of Health — you can bake, jar, blend, roast, and sell a wide range of shelf-stable products from your own home kitchen without a license, inspection, or fee.
Under the exemption you can sell your products directly to consumers from your home, at farmers markets and roadside stands, at fairs and festivals, and even through your own website with mail-order delivery inside Vermont. The trade-off is that all sales must be direct: no wholesale to restaurants, no retail stores, no Amazon or Etsy, and no out-of-state shipping. If your business outgrows those boundaries, Vermont has a clear next step — a Home Bakery, Home Caterer, or Food Processor license — waiting for you.
This guide walks through exactly what you can make, where you can sell it, what your label needs to say, and how to get your business set up — all written in plain English, with the statutes and agency links cited so you can verify everything yourself.
See what you can sell in Vermont →The complete list of foods that are open, restricted, or prohibited under Vermont's cottage food rules.
Read Guide →How pH, water activity, and the $30,000 cap work for jams, pickles, baked goods, and dry goods.
Read Guide →Why refrigerated meals need a Home Caterer license, and what that path actually looks like.
Read Guide →Where kombucha, cold brew, shrubs, juices, and specialty lemonade fit inside Vermont's framework.
Read Guide →The free cottage food self-attestation, when you need a full license, and step-by-step instructions.
Read Guide →Every required element, the exact home-kitchen disclaimer wording, and allergen rules.
Read Guide →Sole prop vs LLC, DBA filing, EIN, taxes, pricing — the full start-to-sell checklist for Vermont.
Read Guide →Meat, dairy, alcohol, maple syrup, cannabis edibles — the products that need their own licensing path.
Read Guide →Answer a few questions about your product, recipe, and sales plan — get an instant compliance score and a checklist of exactly what you need to do next in Vermont.
Create Free Account to Use This Tool →SellFood gives you a storefront, a compliant label maker with Vermont's disclaimer pre-filled, order management, and built-in payments — everything you need to turn your kitchen into a business.
Start Selling on SellFood →