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

Home food businesses in Georgetown are controlled almost entirely by Texas state law rather than City ordinance. Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 437 establishes the cottage food production operation, defined to include an individual operating from home who earns up to $150,000 in annual gross income from the sale of allowed cottage food products. Permitted items are shelf-stable, non-time/temperature-control-for-safety foods such as baked goods, candy, dried fruit and herbs, jams and jellies, pickled vegetables (pH 4.6 or below), nuts and nut butters, popcorn, cereal, and certain frozen raw uncut produce; foods requiring refrigeration, raw or cooked meats, and similar higher-risk products are excluded. Sales are direct-to-consumer (for example at the home, farmers' markets, farm stands, and the operator's own website), and products must be labeled with the producer's name and address, the product name, allergen information, and the statement that the food is made in a home kitchen and is not inspected by the Department of State Health Services. Critically for Georgetown, the statute preempts local regulation: a local government authority, including a local health department, may not require a cottage food production operation to obtain a license or permit or pay a fee to sell its food directly to consumers. That means Georgetown cannot impose its own cottage-food permit. The detailed rules also appear in 25 Texas Administrative Code Section 229.661. The City's general home-occupation character standards (keeping the activity secondary to residential use and not generating substantial traffic or visible commercial activity) still apply to the home itself, but the food operation's licensing is a state matter.