Vermont Cottage Food Laws: Complete Guide for 2026

TL;DR: Vermont Cottage Food Laws Quick Answer

Based on the Vermont Department of Health’s guidance on home-based food licenses and exemptions:

• Training + filing required: Anyone claiming a licensing exemption must complete the Health Department’s online training and file a license exemption form (by January 15, 2026, and by January 15 each year after that).[^vdh]
• What “cottage food” means: Cottage foods are described as lower-risk foods that do not require refrigeration or time/temperature control for safety (examples include baked goods like breads and cookies).[^vdh]
• Sales limits: You can make up to $30,000 worth of cottage foods under the cottage food operator exemption, plus up to $10,000 of processed foods under a separate small-processor exemption (per the Health Department guidance).[^vdh]
• Labeling address: The Health Department guidance says you should use the physical address of the home kitchen on product labeling (not a P.O. box), and cites labeling requirements in the Manufactured Food Emergency Rule.[^vdh]

Last verified: February 2026 against Vermont Dept. of Health: Home-Based Food Licenses and Exemptions.

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What Products Are (and Aren’t) “Cottage Food” in Vermont

The Vermont Department of Health guidance emphasizes that cottage foods are shelf-stable foods that do not need to be kept hot or cold to prevent pathogen growth.[^vdh]

The guidance also gives examples of foods that are not cottage foods, such as baked goods that need to be kept cold (examples listed include quiche, cheese danish, and cheesecake).[^vdh]

If your product is time/temperature control for safety (TCS), it generally won’t qualify as a cottage food product.[^vdh]

Training and Annual Exemption Filing

If you want to operate under a Vermont licensing exemption, the Health Department guidance says you must:

1. Complete the Health Department’s online training, and
2. File the license exemption form by the annual deadline.¹

Revenue Caps / Sales Limits

The Health Department guidance states:

• Up to $30,000 of cottage foods under the cottage food operator exemption, and
• Up to $10,000 of processed foods under a separate exemption for very small processors.¹

If you think you’ll exceed these amounts, treat your next steps as UNKNOWN until you confirm with the Vermont Department of Health what license category applies to your operation.

Labeling (What We Can Verify)

From the Health Department guidance:

• Use your physical home-kitchen address on the label (not a P.O. box).¹
• The guidance points to the Manufactured Food Emergency Rule for labeling requirements.¹

UNKNOWN: A full, product-by-product Vermont cottage food labeling checklist (because this varies by product and the complete requirements live in the rule text the guidance links to).¹

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Sources

Footnotes

1. https://www.healthvermont.gov/environment/food-lodging-program/home-based-food-licenses-and-exemptions ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵