Texas Cottage Food to a permitted kitchen: what changes when you go storefront

What cottage food actually allows

A Texas Cottage Food Production Operation can sell most foods made in a home kitchen, with a specific list of exclusions: meat, meat products, poultry, or poultry products; seafood including fish and shellfish; ice or ice products such as shaved ice, ice cream, frozen custard, popsicles, and gelato; low-acid canned goods; products containing CBD or THC; and raw milk or raw milk products. If what you're selling falls outside that exclusion list, cottage food is a real, legitimate path to start selling without the cost of a commercial kitchen buildout.

The sales cap most people get wrong

The current Cottage Food Production Operation definition — which has been updated to also cover nonprofit organizations — sets the annual gross income threshold at $150,000. That's the figure to plan around if cottage food is where you intend to stay for a while rather than a stepping stone; approaching that number is the point to start seriously planning a move into a permitted kitchen, not the point you discover the cap after crossing it.

Labeling: get this exactly right

Every cottage food label needs the name of the cottage food operation; an address, or a unique identification number used in its place; the common name of the product; any major food allergen ingredients; and a disclosure statement that DSHS specifies word for word: "THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION." That disclosure isn't optional wording you can paraphrase — use it as written.

Training and registration

Anyone operating a cottage food production operation has to complete a basic food safety education or training program for food handlers before selling. If what you're selling includes time-and-temperature-control-for-safety foods, registration is required on top of that training — don't assume the training requirement alone covers you if TCS foods are part of your product line.

What changes the day you move into a permitted kitchen

Moving from cottage food into a licensed retail food establishment changes several things at once. The excluded-foods list disappears — meat, seafood, ice cream, and everything else off-limits under cottage food becomes sellable once you're operating in a permitted kitchen under inspection. The $150,000 income cap disappears with it. In exchange, you take on a health permit from whichever authority actually covers your address: Texas DSHS enforces the Texas Food Establishment Rules directly only in areas without their own city or county ordinance, and most Texas cities and counties instead regulate locally through their own health department — so confirm which one applies to you before assuming DSHS is your permitting authority. The Texas Food Establishment Rules themselves are codified as Title 25, Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 228, and that's what inspections are measured against once you're in a permitted kitchen.

What a permit actually costs, where DSHS is the authority

Where DSHS is your permitting authority, its published fee tiers scale with gross annual volume: $258 under $50,000, $515 from $50,000 to $149,999.99, and $773 at $150,000 or more, plus a separate $150 inspection application fee. A local health department regulating its own jurisdiction may charge entirely different fees — confirm directly with them rather than assuming the DSHS figures apply to your address. Some larger counties also expect a certified food manager on duty during operating hours; ask your local health authority whether that applies to you rather than assuming it does or doesn't.

Making the jump without losing momentum

The businesses that make this transition well usually start planning the move well before the cottage food cap forces the issue — lining up a kitchen space, confirming which health authority covers the new address, and budgeting for permit fees and inspection timelines before the last cottage food sale under the old rules. Treat the cap and the excluded-foods list as the two signals telling you it's time to start that planning, not as a wall you hit unprepared.