Last verified: October 23, 2026. I’m a Texas home baker, not a lawyer — laws change, so always confirm with NH DHHS Food Protection before you sell.

NEW HAMPSHIRE COTTAGE FOOD AT A GLANCE

Annual sales cap: None in the current law. New Hampshire’s license-free tier turns on where you sell, not how much you sell. (Older write-ups quote a $35,000 cap — that figure was removed from the statute in 2023. See the note below.)

License or permit: Depends on your channels. Selling from home, your own farm stand, farmers markets, or retail food stores is license-free. Selling to restaurants, over the internet, by mail order, or to wholesalers requires a Class H Homestead license ($150/year) from NH DHHS.

Kitchen inspection: None for the license-free tier — DHHS may inspect only if it has reason to suspect an imminent health hazard.

Food handler course: Not required — no course requirement appears in DHHS’s homestead food guidance.

Shipping: Mail order is a licensed channel — with the Class H license, mail-order sales are part of the program. DHHS’s materials don’t address out-of-state sales, and federal rules apply to interstate food sales, so confirm before you ship across state lines.

Wholesale: Split. Selling to retail food stores is license-free; selling to wholesalers, brokers, or distributors who will resell requires the license.

NEW HAMPSHIRE SORTS BAKERS BY WHERE THEY SELL, NOT HOW MUCH

Most states ask two questions: what are you selling, and how much of it? New Hampshire mostly asks a different one: where is the sale happening? The state calls its program Homestead Food Operations (RSA 143-A:12), and it runs in two tiers.

In the license-free tier, you can sell your non-potentially hazardous foods — baked goods, candies, jams, mixes — straight from your home, at your own farm stand, at farmers markets, and even to retail food stores, with no license and no routine inspection. The moment you step into certain channels — restaurants, internet sales, mail order, wholesale distribution — you move into the licensed tier and need the Class H Homestead license first.

About that sales cap: if you’ve read about New Hampshire’s homestead rules anywhere else, you’ve probably seen a $35,000 annual cap. That figure was real — it sat in RSA 143-A:5, VII — but the legislature removed it in 2023, and the current text of the exemption sets no dollar limit at all. One wrinkle, in the interest of honesty: RSA 143-A:12 still contains an old cross-reference to a “maximum annual gross sales” in that same paragraph, even though the paragraph no longer sets one. DHHS’s current guidance lists no sales cap among its license triggers, and this guide follows the current text — but if you’re anywhere near the old $35,000 line, a quick call to DHHS Food Protection at (603) 271-4589 is cheap peace of mind.

WHAT YOU CAN (AND CAN’T) SELL

Everything in a homestead food operation, in either tier, has to be non-potentially hazardous — food that doesn’t need temperature control to stay safe. DHHS’s allowed list includes:

Allowed: Baked goods (with one rule: fresh produce has to be baked into the batter — no fresh garnish on top); hard candies, lollipops, and peppermint candies; dry bread and instant mixes; roasted and ground coffee; jams and jellies; apple and fruit butters (with a process review — see below); and acidified foods like salsas and pickles (also with a process review for non-standard recipes). Jam and jelly recipes that don’t follow National Center for Home Food Preservation guidance can need a process review too, and jarred foods — BBQ and hot sauces, mustards, pepper jellies, pickles, salsas — are on the licensed tier’s process-review list.

The moist-bread watch-out: DHHS warns that moist quick breads — zucchini, pumpkin, banana — may be potentially hazardous depending on the recipe. If your signature loaf is a moist one, DHHS points you to water-activity testing through the NH Public Health Laboratory at (603) 271-4665 to settle it.

The frosting fine print: Buttercream is named nowhere in New Hampshire’s homestead rules — DHHS does not keep a frosting list. What controls is the definition: food that needs temperature control for safety is potentially hazardous and out. DHHS lists milk, dairy, and eggs among its potentially hazardous categories, so a frosting that has to live in the refrigerator fails the test for either tier. A shelf-stable frosting on a shelf-stable cake is a different story — and for a borderline recipe, that same water-activity test is how you find out which side you’re on. When in doubt, ask DHHS before you sell, not after.

Freeze-drying — New Hampshire splits this one too, and the split recently moved: Freeze-dried candy is fine in the license-free tier — DHHS’s own FAQ says yes, because candy is already a non-TCS (non-temperature-controlled) product. Freeze-dried fruits and vegetables are the moving part: DHHS’s webpage still gives a flat “no,” but a 2025 law — Chapter 193 (HB 505), effective November 12, 2025 — opened a pathway to sell freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, and commercially prepared dairy under the homestead license. The webpage simply hasn’t caught up with the statute yet. If freeze-dried produce is your plan, that’s a licensed-tier product, and it’s worth confirming your exact product with DHHS Food Protection before you invest in packaging.

Not allowed: Anything potentially hazardous — meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk and dairy products, cooked plant foods, baked potatoes, mushrooms, raw sprouts, tofu, and untreated garlic-in-oil. Also off the list: dehydrated meats; apple cider; bottled beverages like iced coffee, iced tea, lemonade, and juices (those need a commercial license); pumpkin butter (it’s low-acid); live sourdough starters; uncooked frozen dough (cooked dough may be frozen); and catering.

Two things that aren’t homestead food at all: Honey and maple syrup are regulated by the NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food — not DHHS — so they don’t run through this program (using them as an ingredient is a question for DHHS). And pet treats aren’t covered: homestead food is human food only.

NEW HAMPSHIRE LABELING REQUIREMENTS

State law (RSA 143-A:12, IV) requires every packaged homestead food product — in both tiers — to carry an individual label with:

  1. The name, address, and phone number of your homestead food operation. DHHS adds a flexibility most states don’t offer: your active e-mail address may stand in for the physical address. A P.O. Box alone is not enough.
  2. The name of the product — its common name, like “Chocolate Chip Cookies.”
  3. Ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight, including the sub-ingredients of any ingredient (copy them from each ingredient’s own label, in parentheses).
  4. Allergy information — the name of each major food allergen, unless it’s already clear from the ingredient’s common name.
  5. The statement for your tier, word for word, in at least 10-point font:
    License-free tier: This product is exempt from New Hampshire licensing and inspection.
    Licensed tier: This product is made in a residential kitchen licensed by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.

Licensed tier? Two more items become required on your labels: the net weight, volume, or count in both U.S. customary and metric units, and a product code — date of manufacture, container size, and lot or batch (DHHS says your “baked on” date can serve as the code).

Good news for small batches: hand-printed labels are fine, as long as they’re legible, written in permanent ink, and the statement meets the font-size rule. And for wedding and specialty cakes, the label information goes on the invoice delivered with the cake instead of on a package.

WHERE YOU CAN SELL IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

License-free: from your homestead residence, at your own farm stand, at farmers markets, and to retail food stores — yes, really. New Hampshire is one of the few states where stocking a grocery store’s shelf doesn’t, by itself, push you into the licensed tier.

License required first (Class H Homestead, $150/year): sales to restaurants or other food establishments (anywhere that isn’t a retail food store), sales over the internet, sales by mail order, and sales to wholesalers, brokers, or other distributors who will resell your products. Applying means some homework: water test results if you’re on a private well (not needed on town water), a complete product list, process reviews for jarred foods, and sample labels of your finished products.

Two local warnings: First, check your local zoning — and know that New Hampshire has 15 self-inspecting cities and towns that may require their own local license for sales inside their borders, whatever the state says. Second, individual farmers markets can set their own vendor requirements on top of the state rules, so read the market’s vendor packet before your first booth.

YOUR 3 STEPS TO START

  1. Sort your sales channels before anything else. List where you actually plan to sell. Home, farm stand, farmers markets, and retail stores only? You’re in the license-free tier. Adding a website, mail orders, a restaurant account, or a distributor? That’s your cue to apply for the Class H license first — and to run your frostings and moist breads through the “does it need the fridge?” test, with a water-activity test for anything borderline.
  2. Build the right label for your tier. Five elements, ingredients with sub-ingredients, and your tier’s exact statement in 10-point type or larger. Decide whether you’ll print your physical address or use DHHS’s e-mail option — and remember that the licensed tier adds dual-unit net quantity and a product code.
  3. Check the local layer, then sell. Confirm zoning, ask your town or city whether it’s one of the self-inspecting communities with its own license, and read your market’s vendor rules. If freeze-dried produce or jarred sauces are part of your plan, make the DHHS call — (603) 271-4589 — before you print a single label.

Keep exploring: see the Cottage Food Laws by State hub for every state’s rules, and the free tools page — the Cottage Label Generator and the Cottage Cost Calculator — built for home bakers.

OFFICIAL NEW HAMPSHIRE SOURCES

This guide is for informational purposes only and isn’t legal advice. Cottage food laws change — I last verified this page on October 23, 2026. When in doubt, ask NH DHHS Food Protection.

Just add sprinkles!