Last verified: October 22, 2026. I’m a Texas home baker, not a lawyer — laws change, so always confirm with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) before you sell.

VIRGINIA COTTAGE FOOD AT A GLANCE

Annual sales cap: None for low-risk foods (pickles and acidified vegetables have a separate $9,000/year cap, and home honey is capped at 250 gallons/year)

License or permit: Not required — Virginia’s “kitchen bill” exemptions (Va. Code § 3.2-5130) mean no permit, no inspection, no registration, and no fee for exempt foods

Kitchen inspection: Not required (VDACS can still inspect if a consumer complaint comes in)

Food handler course: Not required by Virginia law for exempt home producers

Shipping: Virginia only — under the current statute, exempt foods may be delivered in person, by mail, or by delivery service to customers in Virginia (one honest note below)

Wholesale: Not permitted — sales must be to individuals for their own consumption; no resale, no consignment, and your products can’t be used or served in retail food establishments

Selling somewhere else too? Compare every state in the Cottage Food Laws by State hub: https://cottagebakersupply.com/cottage-food-laws-by-state/ — and once you’re selling, price your bakes with the free tools here: https://cottagebakersupply.com/tools/

WHY VIRGINIA DOES COTTAGE FOOD DIFFERENTLY

Virginia never built a cottage food permit program at all. Instead, its “kitchen bill” simply exempts certain home-produced foods from the inspection-and-permit system that applies to commercial food businesses. If your food is on the exemption list and your labels carry the required statement, you can sell — no application, no paperwork, no annual fee. The trade-off is the list itself: Virginia’s lanes are narrower than a true food-freedom state’s, and baked goods only qualify if they don’t need refrigeration to stay safe.

One honest heads-up, because getting this right matters more than sounding tidy: VDACS’s own FAQ sheet still describes older, tighter limits on where exempt foods can be sold (home, farmers markets, short temporary events only, no internet sales, no shipping). The current statute — § 3.2-5130 as amended — allows sales at any location, through the internet or by phone, with delivery in person, by mail, or by delivery service inside Virginia. This guide follows the statute, which is the law. If you build your business around online or mail sales, a two-minute confirmation email to VDACS (foodsafety@vdacs.virginia.gov) is cheap peace of mind.

WHAT YOU CAN (AND CAN’T) SELL

Allowed under the low-risk exemption: candies; jams and jellies (not low-acid or acidified ones — those have their own lane below); dried fruits; dry herbs; dry seasonings; dry mixtures; coated and uncoated nuts; vinegars and flavored vinegars; popcorn and popcorn balls; cotton candy; dried pasta; dry baking mixes; roasted coffee; dried tea; cereals; trail mixes; granola; and baked goods that do not require time or temperature control after preparation.

That last phrase is the gatekeeper for bakers. A cake that must be refrigerated — including one frosted with classic butter-based buttercream — falls outside the exemption. Shelf-stable frostings keep you in the lane; if it has to stay cold, it needs the inspected-kitchen route instead.

Two side lanes: pickles and acidified vegetables with an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or lower are exempt too, with a $9,000 annual gross sales cap and careful sales records (canned fermented foods, canned fruits, and low-acid canned vegetables are NOT in this lane). And pure honey from your own hives is exempt under 250 gallons a year, with its own label statement below — infused honey doesn’t qualify.

Not allowed under the exemptions: anything needing refrigeration to stay safe (custards, cream fillings, cheesecakes), low-acid canned goods, and meat, poultry, or seafood products. And a gap to know about: freeze-dried products simply aren’t addressed in the statute or VDACS’s guidance — if freeze-dried candy or fruit is your plan, ask VDACS before you count on selling it.

VIRGINIA LABELING REQUIREMENTS

Virginia’s exemption requires three things on the label, on the principal display panel:

  1. Your name, your physical address or post office box number, and your telephone number
  2. The date the product was processed
  3. This exact statement, verbatim: NOT FOR RESALE PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION.

If a package is too small to hold a readable label, Virginia lets you sell with a sign showing the same three items instead.

Honey uses a different verbatim statement: PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION. WARNING: Do Not Feed Honey to Infants Under One Year Old.

One nuance from VDACS: the exemption’s three items are what’s required to sell under the exemption, and VDACS notes that standard label information — product name, ingredients, net weight — still applies under general labeling rules. When in doubt, include them; they’re what shoppers expect to see anyway.

WHERE YOU CAN SELL IN VIRGINIA

Under the current statute, exempt foods can be sold at any location, through the internet, or by phone, and delivered in person, by mail, or by delivery service — as long as the buyer is an individual in Virginia buying for their own consumption. Farmers markets, craft fairs, your own website, and mail orders inside Virginia are all in.

The hard lines: Virginia only (sale and delivery are framed around buyers in the Commonwealth), no resale or consignment, and your products can’t be sold to be used or served in retail food establishments — so no wholesale to shops or restaurants under the exemption. (And remember the note above: VDACS’s FAQ still shows the older venue limits, so keep your confirmation email if you sell online.)

YOUR 3 STEPS TO START

  1. Confirm your foods are in a lane. Low-risk list, shelf-stable only — or the acidified lane with its pH testing and $9,000 cap, or pure honey from your own hives. If it needs refrigeration, it’s out.
  2. Get your labels right. Name + address (or P.O. box) + phone, the processing date, and the verbatim NOT FOR RESALE statement on the principal display panel. Labeling is where most home producers get flagged, so don’t wing this one.
  3. Keep records from day one. Acidified producers must be able to show VDACS their sales against the $9,000 cap — and every exempt producer should be able to show what was sold, when, and to whom if a complaint ever lands.

OFFICIAL VIRGINIA SOURCES

This guide is for informational purposes only and isn’t legal advice. Cottage food laws change — I last verified this page on October 22, 2026. When in doubt, ask VDACS.

Just add sprinkles!