Fishers, IN Home Business: Cottage Food Operations (2026)

Fishers does not maintain its own cottage-food ordinance; home food production is governed by Indiana's Home Based Vendor statute, IC 16-42-5.3, enacted by HEA 1149 and effective July 1, 2022. The law lets individuals produce and sell 'non-potentially hazardous' foods made in a home kitchen, meaning shelf-stable items that do not require time or temperature control for safety. Commonly allowed products include breads, cookies and other baked goods, candies, jams and jellies, dry mixes, and similar nonperishable items; foods that require refrigeration, low-acid canned goods, acidified foods, and meat products are generally not allowed. Indiana imposes no license, inspection, or gross-sales limit on a home based vendor, and the 2022 law expanded sales venues so producers may sell directly to consumers from home, online, by mail or delivery, and at farmers markets and roadside stands. Products must carry a label that identifies the vendor and product and includes the statutory disclosure stating the food is home produced and processed in an area not inspected by the state health department and is not for resale. The statute also bars local units of government from prohibiting or further regulating these home-based food sales, so Fishers cannot impose extra cottage-food rules. That said, a home food operation is still a business run from a residence, so it must also fit within the city's home-occupation standards (UDO Sec. 5.7.2.C) — for example, no exterior signs or outdoor storage and staying within the residential character of the property.