When it comes to starting a homemade food business, West Virginia is almost heaven.
Under a new law signed on Monday by Gov. Jim Justice, West Virginia will significantly ease restrictions on “cottage food” producers, who can sell cookies, jams, dried herbs, and other shelf-stable, homemade food, without a permit or the need to rent commercial kitchen space. Currently on the books in 49 states (with New Jersey the lone holdout), cottage food laws are designed to promote entrepreneurship and transform home kitchens into low-cost business incubators; one recent survey found that the median startup capital for a cottage food business was a mere $500.
But in West Virginia, red tape prevented home bakers from earning serious dough. Prior to reform, cottage food businesses could only sell at seasonal farmers’ markets and sporadic community events.
“Since we couldn’t take custom orders from our home, my wife and I had to guess how much of what kind of goods we should make, package everything up, and drive to the market or event that was often miles away,” Eric Blend, who owns The Blended Homestead in Wheeling, explained. “Depending on turnout, we had to turn customers away or throw out product.”
To expand access to key distribution channels, Sens. Patricia Rucker and Dave Sypolt, along with nearly 30 cosponsors, introduced SB 285, which was backed by a coalition of home bakers, the Institute for Justice, and the state’s Department of Agriculture. SB 285 earned wide, bipartisan support, passing the state Senate unanimously and receiving just five votes against it in the House of Delegates.
Once the law takes effect on June 5, home bakers can sell directly from their homes, take online orders, and even sell through retail outlets like grocery stores. The law will also preempt any local bans and regulations that would otherwise sour plans for homemade food businesses. Cottage food will finally become a year-round endeavor in West Virginia.
“Not only can I customize my goods for special occasions, I no longer have to miss out on the most profitable time of the year—the holiday season,” said Michelle Carpenter, a home baker who lobbied for the law. “Birthday cake with a dancing pony? No problem! Christmas cookies that taste like eggnog? How many?”
West Virginia’s cottage food expansion should especially be a boon to farmers and women. In 2017, the Institute for Justice surveyed 775 cottage food producers in 22 states. Among those surveyed, 83% were women (compared to 36% of home-based businesses generally), while more than half of cottage food producers lived in rural areas, compared to less than a fifth of the national population.
And with the median household income for cottage food producers a modest $36,000—significantly lower than the national median—home bakers are more likely to be in an economically precarious position. Perhaps it should come as no surprise then that nearly two-thirds of cottage food producers view their homemade food businesses as either their main occupation or as an important source of supplementary income.
“Other people we see benefiting from these laws are stay-at-home parents, retirees, people with disabilities, and military spouses—all people who need creative ways to bring in extra income,” noted Institute for Justice Attorney Erica Smith.
As other states have seen, new economic opportunities can quickly open up. After Wyoming, North Dakota, and Utah deregulated the sale of homemade food, residents created hundreds of local food businesses. Last year, Kentucky expanded its cottage food program, which was previously limited to farmers and people who grew their own ingredients. At the time the law was enacted, 743 “home-based processors” were registered and operating in Kentucky. Notably, there hasn’t been a single outbreak of foodborne illness linked to a homemade food business in any of those four states.
“Another state is realizing that over-regulation is harming everyday Americans,” said Melanie Benit, an activism associate at the Institute for Justice. “By government loosening its grip, people are given the opportunity to try their hand at entrepreneurship.”
