Cottage food laws in Washington

The limits

Sales cap

$35,000 in gross annual sales (raised from $25,000; effective 2025 per a nonprofit/industry aggregator cross-check — WSDA's own cottage food page content could not be fully retrieved to confirm this figure directly, see Notes)

You can sell

Non-potentially-hazardous foods made in a domestic kitchen, including baked goods, standardized jams and jellies, vinegars, and dry mixes

You cannot sell

Potentially hazardous/TCS foods generally; sales to restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops, bakeries, or wholesale to any other business are prohibited regardless of food type

Getting set up

Permit / registration

Yes — a Cottage Food Operation Permit from WSDA, requiring a detailed business plan/application, label approval, and a home kitchen inspection

Cost

$355 for a two-year permit (fee restructured from an annual to a two-year cycle at the same approximate cost)

Training

Yes — a training course is required as part of permit application, plus a Food Worker's Card from the applicant's local county health department

Kitchen inspection

Yes — WSDA inspects the kitchen and all permitted areas prior to permitting, during normal business hours

Labeling

Cottage food product labels in Washington must include: the name and cottage food permit number (issued under RCW 69.22.030) of the business; the product name; a full ingredient list in descending order of predominance by weight (including sub-ingredients of any prepared components); net weight or net volume; allergen information as required by federal law; nutritional information if any nutrition or health claim is made; and the statement "Made in a Home Kitchen that has not been subject to standard inspection criteria," printed in at least 11-point type in a color that contrasts clearly with the background. For large cakes or bulk products that can't carry a full label, a separate product information sheet with all the same required information may be provided to the consumer instead.

Where you can sell

Permitted venues

Direct to consumer only — explicitly excludes restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops, bakeries, and wholesale accounts

Online sales

Only in a limited sense. A Washington cottage food operation may maintain a website that displays and advertises its products, but any sale arising from that website must be completed as an in-person transaction -- meaning the operator cannot take online orders/payment and ship or mail the product; the actual sale (payment and hand-off) has to happen face-to-face with the consumer.

Delivery in state

No. Washington's rule expressly prohibits cottage food operations from shipping products or conducting mail-order sales at all -- this applies within the state as well, not just across state lines. Products must be sold directly, in person, by the cottage food operator (e.g., at farmers markets, craft fairs, and charitable-organization functions, or from the approved home kitchen location); they cannot be shipped or mailed to a customer's home.

Shipping out of state

No. Washington's cottage food rule explicitly bars selling product outside the state, in addition to its blanket ban on shipping and mail-order sales generally. All cottage food sales must be direct, in-person, and within Washington.

The fine print

Statute

WAC 16-149 (Cottage Food Operations rule); enabling legislation passed by the Washington State Legislature in 2011

Recent changes

Sales cap increased from $25,000 to $35,000, reported effective in 2025 following a 2023/2024 legislative change (sponsor: Rep. Carolyn Eslick); permit fee restructured to cover a two-year term at $355. Confirm exact bill number and effective date directly with WSDA, as this was sourced from a legislator's own post and aggregator sites rather than the WSDA program page itself (see Notes).

Notes

Not confirmedWSDA's cottage food page (agr.wa.gov/cottagefood) and permit-summary page both returned only site navigation content on automated fetch, not full page text, despite repeated attempts — so the $35,000 cap, the $355/2-year fee, and the training/inspection requirements above are corroborated by a state legislator's official post and multiple aggregator cross-checks rather than by directly reading WSDA's own page text. Labeling requirements, online sales, delivery, and interstate shipping could not be sourced at all and are marked Unverified. Recommend a follow-up direct call/email to WSDA (cottagefoods@agr.wa.gov) to confirm the cap, fee, and labeling rule before this entry is relied upon. Local city/county governments may impose additional zoning restrictions on home-based food production — WSDA advises operators to check with their local jurisdiction.