Cottage food laws in New Hampshire

The limits

Sales cap

Confirmed. New Hampshire's threshold is $20,000 in annual gross sales. An "exempt homestead food operation" is defined as one whose "maximum annual gross sales is less than $20,000" and which sells only directly to the consumer from the homestead residence, the owner's farm stand, farmers' markets, or a retail food store. A homestead operation that exceeds $20,000 per year in gross sales, or that wishes to sell to restaurants, over the Internet, by mail order, or to wholesalers/brokers/distributors for resale, must instead be licensed by DHHS as a "Homestead-Class H" operation under RSA 143-A:4 (a $150 license fee was reported for this tier).

You can sell

Confirmed as an exclusion-based definition rather than a fixed positive list: New Hampshire allows non-"potentially hazardous" homestead food products. Statute defines "potentially hazardous food" as food "requiring temperature control for safety because they are capable of supporting the rapid growth of pathogenic or toxigenic microorganisms, and the growth of toxin production of clostridium botulinum," and states this category "also includes processed acidified and low acid canned foods." DHHS guidance gives concrete examples of what is therefore excluded from the exempt tier: cheesecakes, pumpkin pies, custards, soups, sandwiches, and low-acid canned foods such as canned gravies or some canned vegetables. There is no separate published positive list of specifically approved items — any shelf-stable, non-potentially-hazardous food generally qualifies.

You cannot sell

"Potentially hazardous food" requiring time/temperature control for safety, and low-acid canned foods. Examples given by DHHS: cheesecakes, pumpkin pies, custards, soups, sandwiches, and canned low-acid foods such as gravies or some canned vegetables.

Getting set up

Permit / registration

Varies by sales channel (two-tier system). Exempt tier: no license needed to sell directly from the residence, at the operator's own farm stand, at farmers' markets, or at retail food stores. Licensed tier: a Class H Homestead license is required to sell to restaurants or wholesalers, or via internet/mail order.

Cost

$150 for the Class H Homestead license (licensed tier only); no fee identified for the exempt tier.

Training

Confirmed: no general food-safety certification/training is required for homestead food operations. DHHS states that "Homestead Food Operations are exempt from the requirement for a Certified Food Protection Manager," which the FDA Food Code otherwise requires of the person in charge of a food operation. One narrow exception: operations selling poultry or rabbit products must have one individual complete required training and submit proof of completion with their registration to the NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food.

Kitchen inspection

Confirmed for the exempt tier: by statute, exempt homestead food operations are "exempt from licensure and departmental inspection," except that DHHS may inspect if it suspects an imminent health hazard (this matches and now sources the brief's existing statement). For the licensed ("Class H") tier, operations must be licensed by DHHS under RSA 143-A:4, and licensure requires DHHS review of the "residential food production area" — the exact routine inspection frequency for licensed operations was not stated in any source reviewed and remains open.

Labeling

Exempt-tier products must state: "This product is exempt from New Hampshire licensing and inspection." Licensed-tier products must state: "This product is made in a residential food production area licensed by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services." All products also require the operation's name and contact information, product name, ingredients listed by descending weight, and allergen information.

Where you can sell

Permitted venues

Exempt tier: the operator's residence, the operator's own farm stand, farmers' markets, and retail food stores. Licensed (Class H) tier: additionally, restaurants, wholesalers, and via internet or mail order.

Online sales

No for the exempt tier; Yes with a Class H license for the licensed tier.

Delivery in state

No for the exempt tier; Yes (mail order) for the licensed Class H tier.

Shipping out of state

Not confirmedStill unverified — confirm with NH DHHS. RSA 143-A:5/143-A:12 address selling "over the Internet, by mail order" only as one of several triggers that require the Class H license; the statute does not say whether such sales may reach out-of-state buyers or are limited to New Hampshire residents/addresses. This is genuine silence, not permission or prohibition. Federal rules governing interstate commerce apply regardless of state silence.

The fine print

Statute

N.H. RSA 143-A:12 (Homestead Food License Required)

Recent changes

Confirmed that New Hampshire enacted at least two 2025 changes to homestead food law, both effective July 13, 2025. (1) H.B. 150 (2025), enacted as Chapter 18, amends the definition of "homestead food operation" to permit use of commercial kitchen equipment in the home kitchen, provided such equipment "is able to be cleaned and sanitized in the processing area" — confirmed directly from the New Hampshire General Court's own bill-status text. (2) H.B. 304 (2025), reported enacted as Chapter 28, revises labeling requirements: exempt-tier products must be labeled "This product is exempt from New Hampshire licensing and inspection," non-exempt/licensed products must be labeled as made in a DHHS-licensed residential kitchen, and an ingredient list may be replaced with a QR code/website link for home- and farm-stand-only sales (not for farmers-market or online sales). The H.B. 304 chapter number and effective date rest on secondary bill-tracker reporting rather than a directly fetched New Hampshire General Court page for that specific bill — repeated attempts to load HB304's own gc.nh.gov status page returned an unrelated bill's content or failed to load — so treat the H.B. 304 specifics (as opposed to H.B. 150, which is directly confirmed) as needing final verification at gc.nh.gov.

Notes

New Hampshire runs a two-tier system: an unlicensed "exempt" tier for direct/farm-stand/farmers'-market/retail-store sales, and a licensed "Class H Homestead" tier ($150 fee) required for restaurant, wholesale, or internet/mail-order sales. HB304 (2025) may have since amended this framework — confirm current status directly with NH DHHS or the NH General Court before relying on the details above. No sales cap or MEHKO-specific pathway was confirmed in the sources reviewed.