Sonoma County, CA Home Business: Cottage Food Operations (2026)

Cottage food operations (CFOs) in California are authorized by the California Homemade Food Act (AB 1616), codified at Health & Safety Code 113758, which allows preparation of certain approved non-perishable ('cottage') foods in a home kitchen for sale to the public. In Sonoma County, the County Department of Health Services Environmental Health division administers CFOs. Class A is a registration: the operator self-certifies and may sell cottage foods directly to consumers from home and at community events, bake sales, farm stands, and farmers markets. Class B is a permit: the operator must obtain an annual permit and pass a home-kitchen inspection, and may make both direct and indirect (wholesale) sales through local shops, restaurants, and other third-party locations.

Under state law, a CFO may employ the equivalent of one full-time non-family employee, and the operator and employees must complete an approved food-safety training course (renewed at least every three years). State annual gross-sales limits apply and are adjusted over time (commonly cited figures are roughly $86,000 for Class A and about $172,000 for Class B). Applicants submit product labels with the application. Because the home occupation provisions of Zoning Code Section 26-88-121 prohibit on-site food processing or catering, a CFO is authorized as a state-regulated home food activity through Environmental Health registration/permitting rather than as a standard zoning home occupation.