Converse, TX Home Business: Cottage Food Operations (2026)

Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 437 (the Texas Cottage Food Law) authorizes a broad cottage food industry statewide, overriding local attempts to ban home food businesses. Converse residents can produce and sell shelf-stable nonhazardous foods (baked goods without meat or cream, jams, jellies, candies, dried pasta, roasted coffee, popcorn, pickles meeting pH requirements, fermented vegetables, and similar items) directly to consumers from their home kitchen, at farmers markets, events, or by delivery inside Texas. Cottage food operators must hold a Texas food handler certificate, register their business with DSHS, and label all products with the producer name, address, ingredients, allergens, net weight, and the required statement that the food is prepared in a home kitchen not inspected by state or local authorities. Annual gross sales cannot exceed 50,000 dollars. No retail storefront, no wholesale to grocery stores, and no interstate sales. Local zoning home occupation rules still apply regarding signage, traffic, and accessory activity.