Cottage food laws in Rhode Island

The limits

Sales cap

$50,000 per year (total gross sales)

You can sell

Only nonperishable baked goods: bagels, breads, biscuits, brownies, cake pops, cakes (including wedding cakes), cookies, cupcakes, crackers, Danish pastries, granola, macarons, muffins, double-crust pies, pretzels, rolls, scones.

You cannot sell

Rhode Island's cottage food statute affirmatively limits production to a specific list of shelf-stable baked goods that do not require refrigeration or time/temperature control for safety: double-crust pies, yeast breads, biscuits, brownies, cookies, muffins, and cakes that do not require refrigeration. The statute does not separately enumerate a list of banned items by name; instead, anything falling outside that list -- most notably any baked good that requires refrigeration or time/temperature control (for example custard- or cream-filled pies and pastries, cheesecake, or other dairy-based fillings) -- is not authorized as a cottage food product under this law.

Getting set up

Permit / registration

Yes — registration with RIDOH. Process: submit a completed application with a $65 registration fee (payable to "General Treasurer, State of Rhode Island") to the Center for Food Protection, 3 Capitol Hill, Room 203, Providence, RI 02908-5097, along with proof of food handler training/food safety certification, a notarized affidavit confirming the kitchen meets requirements, a property sketch (kitchen, well if applicable, septic system), a water test if on a private water system, and a product/label list.

Cost

$65 annual registration fee.

Training

Yes — proof of completed food handler training or food safety certification from an ANSI-accredited provider is required as part of registration.

Kitchen inspection

No routine, pre-licensure inspection is required. The statute requires cottage food products to be labeled with the disclosure "Made by a Cottage Food Business Registrant that is not Subject to Routine Government Food Safety Inspection," which affirmatively states that these operations are not subject to routine inspection. That said, the Director of Health retains discretionary authority to inspect a registered cottage food operation at any time to check compliance -- so an inspection can happen, but it isn't a scheduled or guaranteed part of registration (consistent with the program's affidavit-based application, noted in the earlier research).

Labeling

Labels required for each product per RIDOH's cottage food labeling guidance; specific required elements beyond "each product must be labeled" were not fully enumerated on the primary page — confirm exact required elements (producer name/address, ingredients, allergens, disclosure language, net weight) with RIDOH.

Where you can sell

Permitted venues

Direct to consumers via pickup or delivery within Rhode Island; farmers markets and temporary events/festivals require an additional retail food peddler license.

Online sales

Yes. Rhode Island law explicitly allows a cottage food licensee to advertise and take orders online (as well as by mail and phone), but the actual product must still be hand-delivered, in person, to the customer somewhere within Rhode Island -- it cannot simply be shipped after an online order.

Delivery in state

Yes — permitted by the registrant or their designee.

Shipping out of state

No. Rhode Island's statute affirmatively requires that even when a sale is arranged online, by mail, or by phone, the licensee (or their designee) must deliver the product in person to the customer within Rhode Island. This forecloses shipping cottage food products to out-of-state customers -- it is not merely an unaddressed silence, the statute affirmatively confines delivery to in-state, in-person handoff. This is in addition to the general federal-law backdrop that bars unlicensed home-kitchen food from interstate commerce.

The fine print

Statute

R.I. Gen. Laws § 21-27-6.2 (Cottage food manufacture).

Recent changes

Rhode Island's cottage food law took effect in November 2022 — the last state in the country to adopt a cottage food law. No further amendment since 2023 was identified in this research.

Notes

Rhode Island is among the most restrictive of the 8 jurisdictions researched: it is the only one limited to a fixed list of nonperishable baked goods (no jams, candy, or dry mixes), and it is one of very few cottage food programs nationally that charges a registration fee alongside a hard product list. Confirm inspection and online-sales specifics directly with RIDOH, as the department's FAQ PDF (linked from the main page) could not be rendered as readable text during our research.