Cottage Food Bill

Mike Stephens

News Reporter

Proving the Legislative Process Works

In February, Monterey County Farm Bureau's Administrative Assistant Susanne McBride offered a legislative suggestion to improve to the cottage food section of our public policy, and Assembly member Robert Rivas was kind enough to write and carry the bill through the process.

Governor Newsom has signed AB 1144, the Cottage Foods Bill, into California Law. Congratulations to Susanne on her suggestion that will benefit small food producers across our state, and thanks to Assembly member Rivas for his support during the legislative session of her suggestion.

The Summary of the bill is:

Cottage food operations are small businesses in which people make and sell homemade foods to help supplement their income (or, in some cases, receive their primary source of income). These operations are especially important in rural communities, where economic opportunity may be limited, but are an important part of the food economy throughout the state. Under current law, cottage food operations are limited to making $50,000 or less in annual sales from their food products. The author points out that this amount has not been updated in six years to account for inflation and the rising cost of living in California. In addition, cottage food operations are not currently allowed to ship homemade food through the mail or other third-party delivery services across the state, despite the rising importance of such services. This bill will modernize California's cottage foods industry and will ensure that Californians up and down our state are able to participate