The Suppression of the Cottage Food Industry
Nikki Plows founded her bakery, Petals & Plows, in Centerville as a way to raise funds for a new car. Starting out with a borrowed grain mill, a gifted sourdough starter, and a random bag of rustic wheat berries, she began fulfilling porch pickup orders and deliveries to church friends and neighbors. The money for a new car soon materialized. The plan for a thriving business did not.
Most of the food vendors you find at large farmer’s markets have invested in commercial kitchens and licensing, both for the flexibility to handle future growth, and for the credibility it brings. Some rent space at shared-use kitchens, while others must pass health inspections and follow rules set out by the FDA in commercial kitchens they own. However, not every small BBQ sauce or canned goods vendor can make such a hefty investment so early.
These home-based businesses follow a separate set of rules in order to sell with impunity. Tennessee’s Cottage Food Laws are concerned with stipulating what and how cottage food producers can sell, with the intention of protecting the public from digestive misadventures, or worse. But well-meaning laws can sometimes come with unintended consequences.
Within six months, Nikki had raised enough money to replace the family car. “But then I had repeat customers and I was like, ‘I can't just stop doing this now because they’ll be disappointed in me’, and I'm a chronic people pleaser,” she laughed. So Nikki signed up for a vendor spot at a farmer’s market and sold from a display in a local shop, working to improve her craft and feeding a growing number of happy patrons. Not long after, she was offered the front room of a building on Centerville’s public square, and Petals & Plows became a proper bakery. The shop opened in the summer of 2024, and she enjoyed a few months of curating her list of offerings. But growth did not come as hoped.
Due to the nature of bakeries, there is a certain experience customers expect to have when shopping. “People really enjoyed coming in, looking at my case, seeing everything, and picking out what they wanted,” she said, “then I would put it in a box, and the box would have a generic label on it that would have ingredients listed and stuff.” But there was a constraint. While it is perfectly legal to have cottage produced food displayed in an open case, touching the product and bagging it is considered “Food Service Prep,” an action that requires people like Nikki to work in a commercial kitchen. Now, she has to pre-package and label everything before bringing it to her shop, increasing the time and monetary investment, and lowering the desirability of her products.
While some business owners consider the state’s prohibitions around food handling to be reasonable, others find the idea that producers can’t be trusted to safely feed the public the same foods they feed their families to be hindering and unnecessary. “Small family businesses like ours are naturally motivated to produce good, safe, clean products,” one cottage producer shared. “Unlike a huge corporation, if our little business cut corners or made an unsafe product, we’d be out of business in a heartbeat.”
For Nikki, compounding restrictions and a dip in sales (holding her back from hiring help, or investing in a commercial kitchen) have sucked resources and life from the endeavor. Only a year after opening, the Petal & Plows storefront will close and go back to its original business model of porch pickups. But this, too, has its own fences, this time courtesy of the zoning board. Local laws state that the operation of farm stands is allowed so long as the product is not visible to people in the form of a permanent sign. “I guess they don't want it to be a nuisance to the community and have a bunch of traffic, so I have to stagger my pickup.”
Tennessee is by no means the most restrictive state on cottage food producers. Many states limit annual income, while others, like Georgia, require the business owner to take an accredited food safety course, and file for both a regular business license and a Cottage Food license. “I think one of the main things that should be kept in mind when discussing cottage food laws,” explains Emma Holm, owner of Emma’s Gluten-Free Mixes, “is by and large those operations are pursued by people who are trying to make some extra income on the side, typically, either because of passion or because of tight finances in their household.”
For Emma, it was both, helping to supplement the family income while her father dealt with chronic illness by using her expertise in cooking allergen-free meals for her family to create baking mixes that were both safe and delicious. In order to sell at markets, she was required to display a sign informing customers that the food was prepared in an uninspected kitchen. When she needed to expand to online and retail sales, she was required to undergo a kitchen inspection, including water testing.
In 2022, Tennessee implemented the Food Freedom Act (FFA), amending the Cottage Food Laws already in existence and offering cottage producers a little breathing room. Business owners can produce food for commercial sale as long as they have a business license, the food does not require temperature control, and is produced in a private residence.
The act also stipulates certain labeling requirements, and that products can only be sold within the state of Tennessee. Some business owners have said that the latter restriction hinders their online presence, impeding brand awareness among potential customers. Others, like Nikki, say that not being able to sell things like butter to compliment their products, or broaden their menu to things like sandwiches or cakes, hinders their ability to meet customer demand. But there is some hope.
Coming down the legislative pipeline is HB130. The bill seeks to expand the parameters of what small producers can sell to include dairy products and poultry. “We already trust our neighbors when we go to potlucks, with few, if any, reports of safety concerns,” House Sponsor Michele Reneau stated in committee. “This bill simply extends that trust to local food sales, ensuring that customers have more choices to purchase food locally, and to give more small businesses the opportunity to thrive.”
So far, Reneau’s bill has been met with nothing but support. It’s the sort of legislation that warms hearts and brings out nostalgic phrases like, ‘I wish my grandma could have lived to see this bill.’ For people like Nikki, it could mean having enough breathing room to meet demand and gain enough traction to someday expand her business again.
“[There's] a huge opportunity in a market that I could get into; sandwiches and all of that,” she says. “I was so strictly tied in my hands and I couldn't do that kind of stuff. I'm really excited about where this could lead. I think the wording is just very simple for now on the bill, but I think that… it could lead to more opportunities for small business owners.”
While the legislation has already passed in the Senate, its success hinges on its fiscal note and is scheduled to be heard during today’s House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee meeting.