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the successes and frustrations of the Cottage Food Act You know those candied kumquat salted-caramel brownies you make? The ones everyone says are so killer that you should be charging for them, even though you’re “just” a home baker? Well now you’ve got a shot at it, thanks to Washington’s new Cottage Food Act, which allows you to sell what the state calls “low-risk foods” like cookies, cakes, pies, breads, muffins, jams, jellies, vinegars, and herb or spice blends, all made in your home kitchen. The first Cottage Foods permit was issued on July 3, 2012, to Felicia Hill of Vancouver, for her business FH Cakes. She well and truly earned the right to be first, because she was the chief citizen-proponent of the bill as it was being passed into law and as the rules were being developed. A stay-at-home mom, Hill was inspired to take action when she realized that there was nowhere in Vancouver that she could buy a birthday cake for her son Daniel, who has a life-threatening peanut allergy. She understood immediately that there was a market opportunity in her area, making cakes for folks with various food sensitivities. As she began exploring how other states handled home baking, and thought about getting her own legislator to sponsor a bill that would allow her to bake and sell cakes at home, she discovered that Senator Rockefeller was already sponsoring a bill that dealt with home food production. Seizing the opportunity, she dived right in. “I took it upon myself to get involved,” she says. “I’d never been involved in anything like this before, but I became engrossed in it, and testified at every public hearing. It’s been a passion of mine.” Hers is a niche market. Daniel’s peanut allergy, she says, gives her “an understanding and acceptance of those that have food allergies,” and so in addition to 100% peanut-safe cakes she also makes cakes that are free of gluten, dairy, eggs, or soy, as well as vegan cakes. Senator Rockefeller, in turn, was inspired to introduce a Cottage Foods bill by Carolyn Goodwin of Sound Foods. In the spring of 2011, Goodwin heard about a cottage food law in Michigan, and decided that Washington needed a similar law because, as she puts it, “there are so many small food producers who don’t have access to a commercial kitchen in order to start small businesses.” She wrote to Rockefeller, and when he agreed to sponsor a bill Goodwin gathered all the information about similar laws in other states and passed it on to him. Goodwin has no desire to obtain a Cottage Foods permit herself; her interest is broader. “Just doing a little value-added production can really help a farmer’s bottom line” she says, adding “this is one of the pieces in trying to strengthen our local food system. At Rolling Bay Farm on Bainbridge Island, Mark Tiernan and Adrienne Wolfe hold permit number 45, and sell their products exclusively through their farm stand. They view making value-added products like jams from their own fruit, and herb and spice rubs that complement the pork they raise and sell, as part of making their farm a “full circle” food system. Their experience illustrates the complexities and rigors of the permitting process. Tiernan explains that he submitted 45 recipes for WSDA review but only received approval for 35 of them. “My blackberry jam recipe was approved” he says “but blackberry jam with orange and basil was not, because those additions changed the pH of the jam” to a level unacceptable to the WSDA. Tammy Gagnon of Primal Kitchen Kreations in Puyallup, is addressing another specialty market: those who follow a Paleo or Primal way of eating. Gagnon plans to sell her products through CrossFit gyms, and received permit number 42 for her baked goods made without grains, using primarily coconut and almond flours, and products like grain-free granolas made with nuts. Some of her recipes also ran afoul of the WSDA. She uses no sugar in her baking, and submitted some sugar-free frosting recipes. “But the WSDA requires that frostings contain 65% sugar,” she says. “They wanted me to have a lab analyze my frostings to prove that they would be stable and safe to use.” Because of the costs of that lab analysis, Gagnon’s products will be frosting-free for the foreseeable future. A novel approach to selling cottage foods was developed by Myra Zocher of A Woman Sconed, also on Bainbridge Island. Zocher received permit number 11 for “real Grandma-type baking, the best of the simple things” as she puts it. She has opened a baking business using the CSA model: for $20 a week her subscribers receive a weekly supply of baked goods: some sourdough bread, a few cookies, or a small cake, and perhaps, a tartlet. She delivers the goods to the subscribers’ homes, and ruefully acknowledges that her prices are probably too low. “I’m not going to get rich doing this, obviously,” she says, but explains that her price structure was developed to stay within the $15,000 annual gross income limit currently set by the state for cottage foods vendors. The new permit holders all bemoan the economics of the existing regulations. Zocher says “the current limit deters you from using high end ingredients. We’ve got our Food Worker’s cards, our kitchens have been inspected, let us make a decent wage.” Tiernan says “I have to sell 50 jars of jam just to pay for the Cottage Foods permit process, not counting the cost of the jars.” And Hill, who has been lobbying, thus far unsuccessfully, for the annual income limit to be raised, says “I think a limit of $50,000 would be realistic, it would bring us in at the WA median income; what we have now is not a livable wage.” As with any new program it’s clear that there are still kinks to be ironed out, but just getting the basics in place is a huge step forward for people wanting to start up a home business based in their kitchens. And as for consumers, it’s a delight to be able to purchase homemade treats at last, straight from the hands that made them. Abra Bennett is a freelance writer who might apply for a Cottage Foods permit herself, if she can ever figure out how to keep her cats Beppo and Zazou out of the kitchen.
Sidebar: Becoming a Cottage Food Producer You must first apply for a permit from WSDA. The application packet, along with answers to many common questions about the permit and permitting process, can be found at agr.wa.gov under the “licenses” tab. ***The foods which you may be permitted to sell include oven-baked goods, fruit jams, jellies, fruit butters, vinegars and dried mixes. Your product must be shelf-stable at room temperature. Food products requiring refrigeration are not allowed. ***The annual permit fee is $230, which includes an inspection of your home kitchen. ***You must submit the complete recipe for each product that you plan to sell to the WSDA. There will be a review of the ingredients and processing steps to ensure that the product is processed in accordance with state law. Your recipe and ingredient list will not be protected as trade secrets. After you receive your permit, if you wish to change a recipe, or add new recipes, you must go through the permitting process again for those new ingredients and processes. ***You must get your WA Food Handler Permit and follow all the sanitation requirements set forth by the WSDA. If you have pets or young children you must demonstrate to the inspector that they will be excluded from the kitchen during preparation of your product. You must have a separate shelf in your refrigerator and a separate shelf in your pantry area, for your product’s ingredients. ***You must label your product with your name and address, a list of ingredients, a notice about any allergens contained in your product, and a warning notice that your product was prepared in a home kitchen. WSDA must review and approve your labels. ***All sales of your product must occur face to face. You may not ship your product for sale, or consign it to any shop. ***You are limited to a gross annual income from your Cottage Foods business of $15,000. |
