Guide
Cottage food in Michigan: the checklist
What cottage food covers in Michigan, whether sales are capped, and why a ticketed micro hospitality dinner needs a different route. Checked Sep 2026.
Tenseats · Updated September 25, 2026
Not legal advice. This is a starting checklist, checked 2026-09-25. Rules change and differ by county and city. Talk to a lawyer and confirm with MDARD before you sell a ticket or open your space.
At a glance
- Covers: foods that don't need time or temperature control, like baked goods, jams, candy and granola, made in your home kitchen. MCL 289.1105
- Sales cap: $50,000 gross a year per person per home, or $75,000 for products priced $250 or more. MDARD may raise both for inflation from October 1, 2026. MCL 289.4102
- Registration and fee: no licence, no inspection, $0. Optional MSU Product Center registration costs up to $50. MCL 289.4102
- Doesn't cover: ticketed or plated dinners. Cottage food has to be prepackaged and labelled, and a plated course isn't. MCL 289.4102
- Home-kitchen meal law: none. PA 51 of 2025 only widened cottage food. SFA analysis
Quick answers
What does cottage food cover in Michigan? Foods that don't need time or temperature control, like baked goods, jams, candy and granola, made in your home kitchen. Beverages, meat and dairy are excluded. MCL 289.1105
What is the cottage food sales cap in Michigan? $50,000 gross a year per person per home, or $75,000 for products priced $250 or more, until October 1, 2026, when MDARD may raise both for inflation. MCL 289.4102
Does Michigan cottage food cover a ticketed dinner? No. Cottage food has to be prepackaged and labelled, and a plated course isn't. A public dinner needs a licensed venue or a temporary food licence (unverified: usually tied to a community event; call first). MCL 289.4102 MCL 289.1107
What this means for a dinner
- Start with a free dinner for friends at home. The licence question starts when money changes hands, or when you open it to the public. MCL 289.1107
- A public micro hospitality night is a food service establishment. You'll need a licensed venue or a temporary food licence (unverified: usually tied to a community event; call first). MCL 289.1107
- Kent County and Detroit bar cottage food at licensed temporary events, so your home bakes stay home. Kent County Detroit
- Beverages, meat and dairy are excluded. Mixologists, cottage food has nothing for you. MCL 289.1105
Your city
- Ann Arbor: organizer checklist · venue host checklist
- Detroit: organizer checklist · venue host checklist
- Grand Rapids: organizer checklist · venue host checklist
Learn more
Not legal advice. Confirm with a lawyer and MDARD before you act.
Guides by city in Michigan
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