How to Sell Food From Home in New York (2026 Guide)

New York doesn't have a "cottage food law" like most states — it has something different, and in one big way, better. There's no revenue cap. From a Brooklyn baker selling babka and black-and-white cookies, to a Bronx home cook shipping pikliz and Caribbean fruitcake, to a Queens baker doing Bangladeshi sweets, New York's home food scene is as diverse as the city itself. The trade-off is that you have to work within a specific system — the Home Processor exemption — and a defined list of approved foods. This guide explains exactly how it works.

For the all-states overview, read our complete guide to selling food from home. To see how New York's approach compares, check our California, Texas, and Florida guides — every state is wired a little differently.

1. New York Does It Differently

Most states wrote a dedicated "cottage food" statute. New York instead carved out a Home Processor exemption within its existing food law — Article 20-C of the Agriculture and Markets Law — administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. Normally, anyone processing food for sale in New York needs a 20-C food processing license. The Home Processor exemption is the carve-out that lets ordinary home kitchens make and sell certain low-risk foods without that full license.

The mental model: in Texas and Florida the law says "here's a cap, stay under it." In New York the law says "here's a list of safe foods — sell as much of them as you like, once you're registered." Different philosophy, same goal: let home cooks earn legally.

2. The Home Processor Exemption (Article 20-C)

The Home Processor exemption is your legal foundation. Here's what defines it:

• It's free to apply — there's no fee for the exemption.
• You make products in your own home kitchen — no commercial kitchen required for approved foods.
• It only covers non-potentially-hazardous, shelf-stable foods (the approved list in Section 4).
• The Department may inspect your kitchen as part of approval.
• Once granted, you can sell at retail and wholesale — markets, fairs, stores, and online.

That last point is underrated: New York lets approved home processors sell wholesale to retail shops, not just direct to consumers. If you can get your jam or your granola onto a local store's shelf, the exemption allows it.

3. No Revenue Cap — The Product List Is the Limit

This is New York's standout feature. California caps you at $75K, Texas at $50K, Florida at $250K. New York has no cap at all. Your ceiling isn't a dollar figure — it's the approved product list. As long as everything you sell is on that list and properly labeled, you can grow your home operation as large as demand allows.

4. What You Can & Can't Sell

The exemption covers shelf-stable, non-potentially-hazardous foods only — items safe at room temperature.

Typically allowed:

• Baked goods: Breads, rolls, bagels, challah, babka, rugelach, black-and-white cookies, brownies, cakes and cupcakes without cream/custard/whipped fillings
• Candy & confections: Fudge, brittle, hard candy, chocolate treats
• Jams, jellies & marmalades (high-sugar, shelf-stable)
• Snack items: Popcorn, caramel corn, kettle corn, peanut brittle, coated/roasted nuts, trail mix, granola
• Dried herbs, spice blends, and certain dry mixes

Not allowed under the exemption:

• Anything refrigerated: Cheesecake, tres leches, cream pies, custards, dishes with meat or dairy fillings
• Cooked, perishable meals: Jerk chicken, jollof rice, curry goat, birria, halal platters sold ready-to-eat
• Canned low-acid goods, pickled and fermented foods, fresh juices, dairy

New York is genuinely strict on cooked meals — there's no home-restaurant law here. If your specialty is hot food, the legal route is a licensed commercial or commissary kitchen, which you can rent by the hour across all five boroughs. It's a common path for NYC cooks scaling a cooked-food brand.

5. How to Apply (Free) & the Inspection

1. Get the Home Processor exemption application from the NY Department of Agriculture and Markets (Division of Food Safety and Inspection).
2. List your products and describe your kitchen. Be specific about what you'll make — the exemption is tied to your approved product list.
3. Submit it (free). There's no application fee.
4. Be ready for a possible kitchen inspection. The Department may visit to confirm basic sanitation: clean surfaces, proper storage, no pets in the prep area during production.
5. Receive your exemption and start selling the approved foods.
6. Check for a local business license / DBA in your city or borough if you operate under a business name.

6. NYC & the Five Boroughs

The Home Processor exemption is a state program, so it applies in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island just as it does upstate. That said, New York City has dense housing and its own business landscape, so two practical tips: confirm any city-level business registration that applies to you, and make sure your building or lease doesn't restrict home-based commercial activity.

The upside in NYC is the market. There is no city on earth with more demand for specific, authentic, hard-to-find baked goods — the West African meat pies (made shelf-stable), the Caribbean fruitcake, the Jewish-deli rye, the Dominican bizcocho. If you make something people grew up on and can't easily buy, New York will find you.

7. Labeling Requirements

Every product needs a label that includes:

1. The product name
2. Your name and address (the home processor)
3. Ingredients in descending order by weight
4. Major allergens (milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, sesame)
5. Net weight or volume
6. The required home-processor statement indicating the food was made in a home kitchen exempt from full 20-C licensing, as specified by the Department

Confirm the exact required wording with the Department of Agriculture and Markets when your exemption is granted — they'll tell you the precise statement to use.

8. How You Get Paid on Chefry

Here's our hot take, New York edition: the city runs on hustle, but the hustle most home cooks use to sell food is quietly broken. Orders live in your DMs. Payment is a mess of Venmo, Zelle, and "I'll catch you Sunday." And the moment you try a big delivery app to clean it up, it takes a 20–30% bite out of every order. You did the cooking; the app took the margin.

We priced Chefry to do the opposite. The clearest way to see it is side by side:

Standard Stripe processing (2.9% + 30¢) is the only other cost, and it's the same rate everyone pays. Chefry is $0/month, free forever, and the first 100 founding chefs pay 0% on everything — even catering and private chef bookings — for their first year. No hidden cut, no surprises. Here's the full pricing breakdown.

9. How Chefry Helps New York Cooks

The exemption makes you legal. Chefry makes you a business. Free, you get:

• A real storefront: Menu, photos, prices, and online ordering — no more "DM to order."
• Payments handled up front, so you never chase money across three apps again.
• Preorders & drops: Run a capped Friday challah or babka drop with prepaid orders — see the preorder guide.
• Borough-level discovery: Show up when New Yorkers search for home food sellers near them.
• One dashboard for orders, capacity, and pickup windows.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cooking in another state? Read our guides for California, Texas, and Florida.