Bakersfield, CA Home Business: Cottage Food Operations (2026)

The California Homemade Food Act permits qualifying low-risk foods (baked goods without cream fillings, jams, jellies, dried mixes, granola, candy) to be produced in a private home kitchen under a Cottage Food Operation (CFO) registration with the Kern County Department of Public Health Environmental Health Division. Class A CFOs (direct-to-consumer sales) require a self-certification process; Class B CFOs (sales to retail stores) require an annual kitchen inspection. Annual gross sales are capped by state statute (currently $150,000). Operators must take a food handler training course, properly label products with their CFO number, and exclude minors, pets, and ill persons from the kitchen during production. Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MHKOs) under AB 626 (H&S §113825 et seq.) allow the preparation and sale of meals directly from a home kitchen with up to 30 meals/day or 60 meals/week (max $100,000 annual sales), but only in counties that have affirmatively opted in. Kern County has not broadly opted into MHKOs as of this writing, so full meal service from a home kitchen is generally not legal in Bakersfield. Bakersfield zoning treats CFOs as permitted home occupations requiring the standard Home Occupation Permit and business tax certificate.