(IRN) Kelly Lay grew up buying cupcakes after church from a “lovely lady” in the congregation. Little did she know, the lady was an illegal baker. As Lay got older, she started baking custom cakes and selling them to friends on Facebook. She had no clue that she was breaking the law until someone tipped her off. A new law now allows home cooks to sell their baked goods without legal consequences.
Lay is the local foods program manager for The Land Connection. She also volunteers with Illinois Stewardship Alliance. Thanks to the group’s efforts and the support of Illinois lawmakers, Illinois home cooks can now sell cupcakes with buttercream frosting and a wide array of other specialized products made in home kitchens directly to customers.
The Home-To-Market Act was introduced in the Illinois legislature in 2021, when many farmer’s markets were shut down because of the pandemic. Cottage food producers had nowhere to sell their goods. The newly revamped cottage food regulations allow Illinois home producers to sell directly from their home kitchens to customers.
Sales are no longer limited to farmer’s markets. Entrepreneurs can sell cottage foods at pop up stands, and church social rooms and festivals – wherever they can find customers. Delivery is also permitted.
The 2022 Cottage Food Act expanded the list of foods that home businesses can produce – from jams and baked goods to more complex acidic foods like tomato-based sauces, salsas, kimchi and pickles.
Lay said the new Illinois regulations are straight forward.
“Instead of having to test every single recipe, I send off a lab test to prove that my process is safe,” she told The Center Square.
The Illinois Cottage Food Guide is available online at the Illinois Department of Public Health website.
“Start by reaching out to the local health department office,” Lay advised. The application process is simple and inexpensive.
“It is the same in every county. They go over all the ingredients. They answer all the questions people have when they want to set up for cottage foods,” she said.
The application fee is $35. It takes three or four weeks to be approved.
One of Lay’s best-selling products is a 100-year-old recipe for strawberry rhubarb jam. She grows different varieties of specialty hot peppers and uses them to make hot sauces. She infused syrups and honeys with different flavors, including baby pinecones.
“I love to use them in mixed drinks,” Lay said. “I make an old-fashioned using spruce syrup (which tastes surprisingly like oranges) instead of Cointreau.”
For more complex foods, IDPH requires a certified food protection manager’s license – the same license that many employees in restaurant kitchens have. To get that license, there is a $100 fee for an online class and a proctored test that people can take at home on a laptop. The license lasts five years.
“Having that license really helps a person understand how to make a product safely,” Lay said. “I’ve never regretted getting that.”
When it comes to cottage food laws, Lay said Illinois is the most start-up friendly state in the nation.
“There is no income cap on how much a home producer can make,” Lay said.
That means producers have the ability to grow their businesses and reinvest the profits to keep their cottage food operation growing. Illinois did that intentionally to give people a pathway into the food business, she said. Otherwise, the only way into a food business requires $200,000 or more in startup loans for a commercial kitchen or a brick-and-mortar store.
“Food businesses often struggle. It is a hard industry to get into – especially restaurants,” Lay said. “The goal is to let people grow a business organically so that they don’t need thousands of dollars in loans.”
For an investment of about $135 – along with ingredients and packaging – an entrepreneur can put out a product and build a clientele.
“They can grow organically by investing back in their business,” she said. Eventually entrepreneurs can expand to a commercial kitchen or a food truck or a storefront without having to take out hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans, Lay said.
The newly revamped Illinois cottage food law helps small market garden farmers stay profitable, Lay said. They are already growing tomatoes and peppers and garlic and onions. Why not make a salsa or a spaghetti sauce?
“Selling cottage foods alongside their produce helps small growers pay their stall fees at the farmer’s market,” Lay said.
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