Georgia cottage food law after HB 398: no license, no cap, and store sales allowed

Since July 1, 2025, you don't need a Georgia Department of Agriculture license or fee to sell cottage food: House Bill 398 lets you make foods that don't need refrigeration at home and sell them directly to people, online or by mail order, or to grocery stores and restaurants, with no state cap on sales. What you must do is tell buyers who made the food and show Georgia's two-sentence statement that it comes from a home exempt from state inspection and may contain allergens, on the label, on a placard, or on the web page where you sell it.

Create your free ordering pageBook a demo (opens in a new tab)

Georgia cottage food rules at a glance (October 2026)

This is general information, not legal advice. GDA is rewriting its cottage food rules (chapter 40-7-19) to match HB 398, so check its page before you start.

What changed with HB 398?

Some answers on GDA's older cottage food FAQ page still describe the pre-2025 rules (for example, that you can't sell to restaurants). The HB 398 FAQ and the law itself are the current rules.

Which foods can you sell from a Georgia home kitchen?

The law covers non-potentially hazardous foods: ones that don't need temperature control for safety. Its examples include:

• breads, rolls, biscuits and cakes, except those with fillings that need refrigeration or have high moisture;
• jams, jellies and preserves (but not reduced-sugar fruit butters whose shelf stability may be affected);
• uncut fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, dill pickles;
• dry herbs, seasonings and mixtures, dry soup mixes, dry pasta;
• cereals, trail mixes, granola, and coated or uncoated nuts;
• confections, fudge, popcorn, popcorn balls and cotton candy;
• vinegars and roasted coffee beans.

Excluded by name: alcoholic beverages, foods containing cannabis, and raw milk. Pet treats aren't covered; they need a feed license from GDA. Anything needing refrigeration, such as cream cheese frosting, cheesecake or custard pies, stays out.

Can you sell cottage food online or ship it from Georgia?

Online and mail order: yes. The law lets cottage food operations sell directly to a person "including online and by mail order."

What your web page must show: when you sell on the internet, the disclosure goes on the page where the item is offered: your business name, address (or GDA identification number), phone number, and the two-sentence statement.

Phone and custom orders: for orders taken by phone or as custom orders, such as a birthday cake, you may skip the written display, but you must tell the customer the food was made at a residential property exempt from state inspection and may contain allergens, and give your details if asked.

Out of state: HB 398 doesn't exempt you from federal law or other states' laws. GDA warns that interstate sales may bring FDA oversight, and the license FDA rules would require can't be issued for a home kitchen. Keep shipments inside Georgia unless you've confirmed otherwise.

What goes on a Georgia cottage food label?

Packaged items carry a label with:

1. your business name;
2. your address, or the GDA identification number you requested instead;
3. your telephone number;
4. the statement shown in the table above, in at least 10-point type.

Items sold from a bulk container carry it on the container. Unpackaged items get a placard at the point of sale. The GDA identification number only replaces your address; it's tied to your home, so you re-register if you move. Allergens must still be declared. Build labels with the food label maker.

If a store or restaurant sells your products, it must keep them in a separate section or display case, labeled as cottage food exempt from state inspection, and post GDA's signage.

Worked example: an Atlanta pound cake baker with a cafe account

Prices are illustrative, as of October 2026. A home baker sells caramel and lemon pound cakes to customers who pick up, and since HB 398 also supplies a neighborhood coffee shop (her city hasn't opted out).

She invoices the cafe directly rather than through her ordering page. The cafe must display her cakes in a separate, labeled case. Use the cake order form for custom cakes, and remember to tell phone and custom-order customers the disclosure.

How to set up a Menuthere ordering page for Georgia rules

1. Put the disclosure on the page where you sell. Add your business name, phone number, address or GDA ID number, and the two-sentence statement to each product description, so it shows wherever the item is offered.
2. Tick the allergens for each product (allergens and nutrition, every plan).
3. Pick your order types in Settings → Ordering → Order types (order types). Pickup and your own delivery both work.
4. Let customers send a courier if you'd rather not deliver: the customer's own courier option turns orders into pickups the customer's courier collects. Georgia stops local governments from banning commercial delivery of cottage food.
5. On Lite, mark custom cakes as dishes that need notice so customers book them days ahead. Pre-orders aren't on the Free plan (see pricing).

Menuthere doesn't check Georgia law for you; you choose the products and options. HB 398 doesn't exempt you from tax law, so ask the Georgia Department of Revenue about sales tax, and see our guide to sales tax on restaurant food. City or county business licenses and zoning still apply.

Create your free ordering pageBook a demo (opens in a new tab)

Other states

Florida also needs no permit but caps sales at US$250,000 and bans wholesale, Texas needs in-person delivery for online orders, and North Carolina inspects home kitchens. Compare them all on the cottage food laws hub.