Until July 1, 2026, a Virginia home baker could advertise online but had to make each sale in person at the home, at a farmers market or at an event lasting no more than 14 days. House Bill 402, now Chapter 605 of the 2026 Acts of Assembly, removed that limit. A resident who makes baked goods, candy, jam or another food on the exemption's list may now sell it at any location, online or by phone and deliver it in person, by mail or by delivery service, as long as the buyer is an individual in Virginia buying for personal use. The bill as first filed went further and would have created a home kitchen permit for perishable foods. That part became a study instead. A work group convened by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services must report to the chairs of the House and Senate agriculture committees by Jan. 13, 2027, the day the 2027 session opens.
About the sources: Sources were checked Nov. 10, 2026. This article relies on the Code of Virginia, bill records, bill texts, fiscal impact statements and the Reports to the General Assembly list on the Virginia Legislative Information System, and on guidance from the Food Safety Program of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Rules for the neighboring states come from their codes, session laws and agency pages. The 2027 outlook is Cottage Food Directory's analysis of those sources.
What Virginia's home food exemption covers in November 2026
- The Code of Virginia section does not use the term "cottage food." The Code of Virginia exempts "private homes where the resident processes and prepares" listed foods from the state food permit, inspection and inspection fee. The list covers candies, jams and jellies that are not low-acid or acidified low-acid foods, dried fruits, dry herbs, seasonings and mixtures, coated and uncoated nuts, vinegars, popcorn, cotton candy, dried pasta, dry baking mixes, roasted coffee, dried tea, cereals, trail mixes, granola and baked goods. Source: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(3), (D).
- Every listed food must be safe without refrigeration after it is made. The exemption covers only products that "do not require time or temperature control after preparation." The department's guidance says whether a product qualifies depends on its recipe, and it lists cheesecakes, cream pies, custards, meringues and cakes filled or topped with fresh fruit, whipped cream or cream cheese among baked goods that may not be allowed. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(3); Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ (revised July 2026).
- Pickles and other acidified vegetables have their own exemption and a $9,000 cap. They must have an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or lower, which means the whole product, not only the brine, tests at that acidity once the vinegar has spread evenly through it. Gross sales may not exceed $9,000 in a calendar year. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(4); Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ, Additional Information Regarding pH.
- A beekeeper may sell less than 250 gallons of honey a year from his or her own hives under a third exemption. The department says value-added products such as infused honey and hot honey do not qualify. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(5); Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ, Section III.
- Sales may happen anywhere in Virginia, but only to an individual for his or her own use. Exempt foods and pickles may be sold at any location, through the internet or by phone and delivered in person, by mail or by delivery service to an individual in Virginia, not for resale or consignment and not for use in retail food establishments. The department adds that exempt foods may not be sold to other businesses or across state lines. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(3)-(4); Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ, Section I, Questions 7-8.
- The label on the front of the package must carry the maker's contact details, the processing date and a set statement. It lists the name, physical address or post office box number and telephone number of the person who made the food, the date it was processed and the words "NOT FOR RESALE — PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION." For the listed foods, a sign where the food is sold may replace the label on a package too small to carry one. The department's guidance adds that labels must also meet standard labeling requirements: product name, net weight, the name and address of the manufacturer, ingredients and possibly nutrition information. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(3); 2026 Acts of Assembly, Chapter 605; Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ, Section I, Question 6.
- Exempt homes do not need a state permit or inspection, but the department may inspect one after a consumer complaint. A violation of the section is a Class 1 misdemeanor, Virginia's most serious misdemeanor class, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(D)-(E); Code of Virginia 18.2-11.
The Virginia cottage food law guide covers the same rules question by question.
Two laws in three years rewrote where Virginians may sell
House Bill 759 of 2024, Chapter 131, raised the pickle cap from $3,000 to $9,000, added temporary events lasting no more than 14 consecutive days to the home and farmers market as places to sell and confirmed that home producers may advertise online as long as the sale itself happens in person. It passed the House 94-2 and the Senate 39-0 and took effect July 1, 2024. Source: House Bill 759 (2024) bill page. A keyword search of 2025 bill text on the Legislative Information System found no bill on the exemption that year.
House Bill 402 of 2026, sponsored by Del. Katrina Callsen, dropped the in-person requirement for the listed foods and for pickles. It also allowed a post office box number in place of a physical address on the label or sign. The House passed it 98-0 and the Senate 39-0. The governor approved it April 13, 2026, and it took effect July 1, 2026. Sources: House Bill 402 (2026) bill page; 2026 Acts of Assembly, Chapter 605.
What House Bill 402 dropped on the way to passage
The introduced version of House Bill 402 would have added a new section, 3.2-5130.1, creating a permit for a "home food processing operator" who prepares, processes or stores food, "including perishable foods," in a primary residence. The department could not have required plan review, commercial-grade equipment or physical changes to the home, and localities could not have prohibited those sales. The introduced bill also would have allowed sales for resale or consignment, including through a third-party vendor that keeps the products apart from a licensed food establishment's food, and it struck the $9,000 pickle cap. Sources: House Bill 402, introduced text; Department of Planning and Budget, fiscal impact statement for House Bill 402 as introduced (Jan. 26, 2026), the agency's estimate of the bill's cost to the state.
A House Agriculture subcommittee substitute, approved 10-0 and then 22-0 by the full House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee, cut the permit section, the resale language and the cap repeal. In their place it told the department to convene a Home Food Processing Operator Work Group with the Virginia Department of Health, the Institute for Justice and other stakeholders. The group was to finish meeting by Nov. 1, 2026, and report its findings and recommendations to the chairs of the House and Senate agriculture committees by the first day of the 2027 session. Sources: House Bill 402 (2026) bill page; 2026 Acts of Assembly, Chapter 605, enactment clause 2.
The fiscal impact statement counted 919 home food processors that already hold department permits and pay its $40 annual inspection fee. The agriculture department warned that the introduced bill could allow unregulated sales of meat and poultry. It said that could put at risk its federally approved meat inspection program, about $2.6 million in federal funding and about 50 positions, along with a Food and Drug Administration inspection contract worth about $400,000 a year. The Virginia Department of Health said it assumed the public would likely see home kitchens operating under the bill as food establishments, which the health department permits, and that local health department staff may receive complaints and requests for inspection reports. Source: Department of Planning and Budget, fiscal impact statement for House Bill 402 as introduced.
How Virginia compares with its six neighbors
Virginia borders Maryland, the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Maryland raised its cottage food revenue cap from $50,000 to $100,000 on Oct. 1, 2026. Cottage food products may be sold in Maryland directly to consumers from a residence, at a farmers market, at a public event, by personal delivery or by mail delivery, or to a retail food store or food cooperative. Before selling to a store, the owner must give the Maryland Department of Health proof of an approved food safety course and the product label. Sources: Chapter 320 of 2026 (House Bill 535); Maryland Code, Health-General Article 21-330.1(g); Maryland cottage food law.
The District of Columbia requires a cottage food business to register with the Cottage Food Business Registry at the District of Columbia Department of Health. The business also needs a home occupancy permit, the District's permit for running a business from a home, and the health department may inspect before sales begin. The District repealed its revenue cap in 2020. Its definition covers direct, retail, wholesale to licensed food establishments and online sales within the District. Sources: District of Columbia Code 7-742.01; District of Columbia Code 7-742.02(b); District of Columbia cottage food law.
West Virginia exempts nonpotentially hazardous foods, meaning foods that do not need time or temperature control for safety, from licensing, permitting and inspection. The producer may sell in person or remotely or through an agent or a third-party vendor, and a third-party carrier may deliver. Foods that need time or temperature control require a state permit and may be sold only inside West Virginia. Sources: West Virginia Code 19-35-6; West Virginia Code 19-40-2; West Virginia cottage food law.
Kentucky requires a home-based processor to register each year and pay $50, caps gross income at $60,000 and limits sales to consumers inside Kentucky. Sales may be made from the home by pickup or delivery, at a market, roadside stand or community event, or online. Sources: Kentucky Revised Statutes 217.015(56); Kentucky Revised Statutes 217.136(5); Kentucky cottage food law.
Tennessee requires no state license or inspection for homemade food and sets no sales cap. Shelf-stable homemade food may be sold in person or remotely, through an agent or a third-party vendor such as a grocery store and delivered by a carrier inside Tennessee. Since July 1, 2025, some foods that need refrigeration may be sold in person. Sources: Tennessee Code Annotated 53-1-118; Senate Bill 484 (2025), Public Chapter 431, bill page; Public Chapter 431 of 2025; Tennessee cottage food law.
North Carolina has no cottage food exemption. Anyone who makes food at home for sale, whether to consumers, stores or restaurants, must first pass a home kitchen inspection by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and only low-risk, shelf-stable foods qualify. Sources: North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Home Processor page; North Carolina cottage food law.
Since July 1, 2026, Virginia's rules on how to sell are among the loosest in the region: no registration, no sales cap on the listed foods and mail delivery to buyers anywhere in the state. Its limit on who may buy is among the tightest. Maryland, the District, West Virginia and Tennessee allow some sales through stores or other businesses, and North Carolina allows them after its inspection. Virginia allows those sales only with a department permit and inspection. Kentucky is the only other neighbor that limits sales to consumers. The Tennessee outlook and the North Carolina outlook cover two of those neighbors in more depth, and Where Cottage Food Laws Are Headed gives the national picture.
Outlook: three Virginia questions the 2027 session may take up
- The work group report could lead to a new bill for the home kitchen permit that House Bill 402 first proposed. The report is the only part of the 2026 law still unfinished, and the General Assembly's reports list showed it as pending, due Jan. 13, 2027, as of Nov. 10, 2026. A permit bill in 2027 is plausible because the introduced House Bill 402 already contains draft permit language and the work group exists to study the standards such a permit would set. Its chances depend on what the work group recommends. In the 2026 fiscal statement, the agriculture department warned of unregulated meat and poultry sales and a risk to federal inspection funding, and the health department expected public confusion and complaints. The House committee then chose a study over the permit. Sources: Reports to the General Assembly, pending report of the Home Food Processing Operator Work Group; House Bill 402, introduced text; Department of Planning and Budget, fiscal impact statement for House Bill 402 as introduced.
- For exempt home producers, sales through stores and other businesses are the clearest gap between Virginia and most of its neighbors. The introduced House Bill 402 would have allowed resale through a third-party vendor, and that language did not survive the subcommittee. Four of the six neighbors, Maryland, the District of Columbia, West Virginia and Tennessee, allow some sales through stores or other businesses without the food permit and routine inspection Virginia requires for those sales, which gives a sponsor examples to cite. The 2026 committee's decision to cut the resale language suggests a retail channel would face the same questions in 2027, so a narrower version, such as Maryland's food safety course and label review before store sales, may stand a better chance than open resale. Sources: House Bill 402, introduced text; Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(3); Maryland Code, Health-General Article 21-330.1(g).
- Three bills since 2023 have tried to raise or remove the pickle cap, and one raised it. House Bill 2123 of 2023 would have repealed the $3,000 cap. The House agriculture committee voted 22-0 to strike it from its docket, which ended the bill without a vote on the change itself. House Bill 759 of 2024 tripled it to $9,000, and the introduced House Bill 402 of 2026 would have removed it before the substitute put it back. That record points to an incremental raise as more likely than repeal if the cap comes up again. Sources: House Bill 2123 (2023); House Bill 759 (2024); House Bill 402, introduced text.
Broader bills that would exempt nearly any home or farm food have not made it out of a House subcommittee in recent sessions. House Bill 1802 of 2023 and House Bill 681 of 2024 were tabled, which set them aside for the session. A subcommittee voted 6-2 to pass by House Bill 699 of 2026 indefinitely, a motion that also ends a bill for the session. No bill of that kind has cleared a House subcommittee since at least 2023. Sources: House Bill 1802 (2023); House Bill 681 (2024); House Bill 699 (2026).
The 2027 session calendar and bill search
The 2027 regular session convenes Jan. 13, 2027. The Legislative Information System lists July 20, 2026, as the prefile date for the session, so bills could already be filed. Source: Virginia Legislative Information System home page.
A Nov. 10, 2026, search of the system's 2027 bill list found 464 items: 443 bills continued from the 2026 session, which a committee may still take up in 2027, and 21 new filings. None concerns the home food exemption, cottage food or home kitchens. Keyword searches of 2027 bill text for "cottage food," "home food," "private home," "homemade," "home kitchen," "baked goods" and "acidified" returned no related bill. Source: Virginia Legislative Information System, bill search.
What Virginia sellers can act on now
- Delivery by mail or a delivery service is legal only to an individual in Virginia. An out-of-state address on an order means the sale falls outside the exemption. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(3); Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ, Section I, Question 8.
- Paper pH strips are not accurate enough for home-canned pickles, the department says. Its guidance says electronic pH meters are very accurate and that each product offered for sale needs its own pH test. Source: Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ, Additional Information Regarding pH.
- Pickle sellers should track gross sales as they go. The department asks producers to document sales on an ongoing basis so the records are available for its review. Source: Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ, Section II, Question 5.
Frequently asked questions
Can I ship baked goods to a customer in Virginia?
A Virginia home producer may deliver exempt foods by mail or by delivery service to an individual in Virginia for his or her own use. That has been allowed since July 1, 2026. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(3); 2026 Acts of Assembly, Chapter 605.
Can I ship to a customer in another state?
The exemption does not cover buyers outside Virginia. The statute limits sales and deliveries to individuals in the Commonwealth, and the department says exempt foods may not be sold across state lines. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(3); Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ, Section I, Question 8.
Can I sell my baked goods to a coffee shop or grocery store in Virginia?
Exempt home foods may not be sold for resale or consignment or for use in retail food establishments. The department adds that they may not be sold to other businesses. A producer who wants that channel needs a permit from the department's Food Safety Program. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(3); Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ, Section I, Questions 8 and 10.
Can I put a post office box on my label instead of my home address?
The exemption's label rule has allowed a post office box number in place of a physical address since July 1, 2026. The department's guidance also says labels must meet standard labeling requirements, which include the name and address of the manufacturer. The guidance does not say whether a post office box meets that requirement. The department's Food Safety Program answers labeling questions at (804) 786-3520 and foodsafety@vdacs.virginia.gov. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(3); Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ, Section I, Question 6.
Can I sell hot honey or infused honey under the honey exemption?
The department says the honey exemption covers only pure honey from the producer's own hives, and it lists infused honey, hot honey, honey ice cream and mead as products that are not allowed. Source: Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ, Section III, Questions 2-3.
Has anyone filed a 2027 bill to change Virginia's home food exemption?
A Nov. 10, 2026, search of the Legislative Information System found no 2027 bill on the home food exemption among the 464 items filed or carried over for the session. Prefiling continues until the session convenes Jan. 13, 2027. Sources: Virginia Legislative Information System, bill search; Virginia Legislative Information System home page.
Related guides: Virginia cottage food law, Where Cottage Food Laws Are Headed, Selling Cottage Food Online, Can You Ship Cottage Foods Across State Lines? and Packaging That Ships Well.
Home bakers and makers across the state are listed on the Virginia page.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Last reviewed Nov. 10, 2026.