College Station, TX Home Business: Cottage Food Operations (2026)

The definition turns on who is producing, how much they gross, and what they make. On the who: the operation must be an individual operating out of the individual's home, or a nonprofit organization, and the food must be produced at the individual's home. A rented commercial space or a friend's kitchen takes the operation outside the definition. On the money: annual gross income from the sale of food must be $150,000 or less. That is gross revenue, not profit, so total sales are what count against the cap.

On the food, the statute works by exclusion. A cottage food operation may produce any food other than the listed categories: meat, meat products, poultry, or poultry products; seafood; ice or ice products, including shaved ice, ice cream, frozen custard, popsicles, and gelato; low-acid canned goods; products containing cannabidiol or tetrahydrocannabinol; and raw milk and raw milk products. Everything not on that list is fair game, which is why baked goods, jams, candies, and dried herbs are the classic cottage food products. The frozen-dessert exclusion is easy to miss: home ice cream, frozen custard, popsicles, and gelato cannot be sold under this definition even though they feel like classic homemade treats.

Qualifying operations need no commercial kitchen and no health inspection. Products must be labeled with ingredients, allergens, and a Made in a Home Kitchen disclaimer, and sales may be limited to direct-to-consumer channels such as farmers markets or online orders with local delivery.