Florida Cottage Food Law · 2026
Can you sell honey from home in Florida?
YES — Allowed
Yes. Pure honey is an allowed Florida cottage food — and if you keep your own bees, Florida's beekeeper rules also apply.
Why yes?
Honey is shelf-stable and explicitly recognized as a cottage food in Florida. You can bottle and sell pure honey direct to consumers without a food permit, up to the $250,000 annual cap.
Two notes: beekeepers must register their apiaries with FDACS (a separate, inexpensive agricultural registration — not a food permit), and "infused" honeys with added ingredients should stay shelf-stable (dried herbs fine, fresh additions not).
Florida Cottage Food Law: Key Facts
Updated July 2026- Permit required: None — no license, permit, or FDACS registration for cottage foods
- Legal basis: Florida Statute 500.80
- Annual sales cap: $250,000 gross per year
- The rule: Only non-potentially-hazardous foods (safe at room temperature)
- Sales channel: Direct to consumers in Florida only — no wholesale
- Labels: 6 required elements, including the cottage food statement
How to sell honey legally
- 1Label must say "Honey" plus your name/address, net weight, and the cottage food statement
- 2If you keep bees, register the apiary with FDACS (separate from cottage food)
- 3Infusions with dried ingredients (cinnamon, dried lavender) stay shelf-stable
- 4Local/varietal honey (orange blossom, palmetto) commands premium prices
Storage & refrigeration
Honey qualifies because it's shelf-stable — safe at room temperature. Keep it that way: the moment you add a cream or custard filling, fresh dairy, or anything that needs refrigeration, it stops being a cottage food. Store and transport honey at room temperature and it stays compliant.
How to label honey
Every package of honey you sell needs a compliant label with all 6 required elements:
- 1Your cottage food business name and address
- 2The product name
- 3Ingredients, listed in descending order by weight
- 4Net weight or quantity
- 5Allergen declaration (milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish)
- 6The cottage food statement (exact wording, below)
“Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations.”
This statement must appear word-for-word.
Where you can sell honey in Florida
Cottage food is sold direct to the customer, within Florida. For honey, that means:
✅ Allowed
- Farmers markets, fairs & events
- Home pickup and local delivery
- Online, phone & mail order — delivered in Florida
🚫 Not allowed
- Wholesale to stores/restaurants for resale
- Selling or shipping outside Florida
- More than $250,000 in gross sales per year
Pricing honey for profit
Add up your cost per unit (ingredients + packaging), multiply by 3–4× to cover your time and overhead, then sanity-check against what similar makers charge locally. Undercharging is the single most common mistake — your time is a real cost, not a freebie.
Free recipe cost calculatorCommon mistakes to avoid
- Underpricing — not counting your time, packaging, and market fees
- Missing a required label element, especially the exact cottage food statement
- Adding a filling or frosting that needs refrigeration, which quietly turns compliant honey non-compliant
- Selling across state lines or wholesale to a shop for resale
- Losing track of the $250,000/year gross sales cap
Not sure about a different product?
Check any food against Florida's rules in seconds with our free tool — then price it and label it with the rest of the toolkit.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be the beekeeper to sell honey as cottage food?
+
Cottage food must be made/packaged by you in your home kitchen. Bottling honey you produced fits naturally; simply reselling someone else's bottled honey is retail, not cottage food.
Is creamed or whipped honey allowed?
+
Yes — creamed honey is still pure honey, just crystallized under control. It remains shelf-stable and allowed.
People also ask about
Official Florida sources
FDACS — Cottage Foods
Florida Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services — the official cottage food program.
Florida Statute 500.80
The cottage food law itself, on the Florida Legislature's official site.
This is general educational information, not legal advice. Cottage food rules change — always verify current requirements with FDACS before you sell.
Ready to start selling?
Get the step-by-step startup guide, free pricing tools, and a spot in Florida's cottage food directory.
Educational information, not legal advice. Verify current requirements with FDACS. Based on Florida Statute 500.80 as of 2026.