Cottage food laws in Virginia

The limits

Sales cap

None for most exempt foods (baked goods, jams, candies, dried foods, honey — unlimited revenue); a separate $9,000/year cap applies specifically to acidified vegetables/pickles produced under the exemption

You can sell

Candies, jams, jellies (non-low-acid/non-acidified), dried fruits, dry herbs, dry seasonings, dry mixtures, coated/uncoated nuts, vinegars, popcorn, popcorn balls, cotton candy, honey (up to 250 gallons/year from the producer's own hives), dried pasta, dry baking mixes, roasted coffee, dried tea, cereals, trail mixes, granola, baked goods not requiring time/temperature control, and acidified vegetables/pickles (pH ≤ 4.6, subject to the $9,000 cap)

You cannot sell

Low-acid canned foods; perishable/TCS foods generally fall outside the exemption and require a full VDACS home food processing permit instead

Getting set up

Permit / registration

No — the home kitchen exemption itself requires no permit, license, registration, VDACS inspection, or application filing. (A separate, broader "home food processing permit" pathway exists for producers who want to make perishable items — that route does require permitting/inspection.)

Cost

None for the exemption pathway

Training

Not confirmedUnverified. The governing statute, Code of Virginia § 3.2-5130, subsection C (home kitchen exemption), does not mention any food safety training requirement in its text — but per source rules, that silence cannot be read as confirming training is NOT required. VDACS's own program page and FAQ PDFs were fetched but either did not address training or could not be rendered as readable text. Confirm directly with VDACS Food Safety Program (804-786-3520 / foodsafety@vdacs.virginia.gov).

Kitchen inspection

No, for the basic exemption under § 3.2-5130

Labeling

Producer's name, address, and telephone number; processing date; and the required disclosure "NOT FOR RESALE PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION"

Where you can sell

Permitted venues

Direct to consumer; as of HB 402 (eff. July 1, 2026), sales are permitted at any location, online, or by phone

Online sales

Yes, as of HB 402, effective July 1, 2026 (previously orders had to be placed by phone, text, or in person)

Delivery in state

Yes, as of HB 402 (eff. 7/1/2026) — delivery in person, by mail, or by delivery service is permitted; before that date, only in-person/phone/text ordering was allowed

Shipping out of state

Not allowed. Virginia's home kitchen food processing exemption statute explicitly limits both point-of-sale and delivery to persons located within Virginia: qualifying home-based food may be sold and delivered only to "an individual in the Commonwealth," whether the transaction occurs at a location, online, or by phone, and whether delivery is in person, by mail, or by delivery service. This directly addresses (and forecloses) interstate shipment — it is not merely silence on the topic.

The fine print

Statute

Code of Virginia § 3.2-5130 ("Inspections required to operate food establishment," home-kitchen exemptions under subsection C); amended by HB 402 (2026)

Recent changes

HB 402, effective July 1, 2026 — for the first time permits online sales and phone orders with delivery in person, by mail, or by delivery service within Virginia; also reportedly allows a P.O. box in place of a home address on labels (per aggregator cross-check — confirm exact label-address provision directly with VDACS)

Notes

A secondary source (Manassas Park, VA local government page) referenced Virginia Code § 3.2-5148 as the relevant citation; live-fetching the statute text confirmed § 3.2-5130 is the correct and operative citation for the home kitchen exemption, and § 3.2-5148 appears to be a mistaken or unrelated reference — § 3.2-5130 should be treated as authoritative. Virginia also maintains a separate, broader VDACS "home food processing permit" pathway for perishable items, which is a distinct regulatory track from this exemption; food-safety-training requirement for the exemption itself could not be confirmed from the fetched sources.