Katie Kirkeby of Startell, MN started her cupcake business, CupKate’s, just one month after the new Cottage Food law went into effect in July 2015. The mom/daycare operator doesn’t plan to make her cupcakes a full-time job. “I just want to pay off my student loan debt and take care of my family. Spending time with my husband and kids is what’s most important to me,” she told the St. Cloud Times.
The Cottage Food law reduces barriers for bakers and some other food producers who sell less than $18,000 worth of their products directly to the consumer from home or at farmers’ markets and community events. Cottage food producers need to register with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), take an approved safety course every three years, label food with their name, date and ingredients. The law applies only to non-potentially hazardous food like baked goods, certain jams and jellies and pickles.
