Licensed Home Bakeries in Ohio: Homemade Business that Works

Is your cheesecake at the top of your family's request list? Do strangers offer to pay you for your banana cream pie? You may want to consider applying for a home bakery license in Ohio.

Ohio bakers who have operated as a cottage food business may want to consider becoming a licensed home bakery. This distinction provides the legal right to sell what the Department of Agriculture considers "potentially hazardous" baked goods. Some farmers markets and local health departments may not permit selling refrigerated items without a proper cooling system, but it is easy to create a list of products made for special order.

I held a home bakery license in Ohio for four years. With it, I was able to sell many items via special order that most home cooks were not legally permitted to do. I also held a contract with a small restaurant to provide specialty desserts including cheesecake.

What does it cost for a home bakery license?
In Ohio, the fee for a license is $10 per year, renewable annually by September 30. The Ohio Department of Agriculture will send a billing notice.

Why do I need a home bakery license?
While Ohio's cottage food laws permit people to make a wide variety of products to sell in their home kitchen, there are limits. Anything that requires refrigeration is not eligible to be sold without a license.

Some of the products that licensed home bakeries can sell include cheesecake, pumpkin pie and cream pies. A licensed and inspected baker can approach restaurants and retailers with more success than cottage food vendors.

Is my kitchen eligible for a home bakery license?
In Ohio, there are two requirements that must be met to be eligible for a home bakery license. The kitchen floor must not be carpeted and there can't be any pets inside the home. If you don't meet these two requirements, your kitchen can not be inspected.

What does an inspector look for?
The inspection process for a home bakery license usually takes less than one hour. The inspector from the Ohio Department of Agriculture will verify that there is no carpet in the kitchen and no indoor pets. In our case, he verified the temperature of the refrigerator with an electronic thermometer and made sure that I had a thermometer inside the fridge.

The inspector will also ask to see copies of your product labels to be sure you are following the labeling guidelines. Any baked product will no longer need the words "This Item is Home Produced" on the label following the certification. However, if you also sell jelly or an unbaked mix, those items do require the home-produced disclaimer.

Create or expand your home-based food business in Ohio with a home bakery license.

Source: Ohio Department of Agriculture