Arizona's cottage food law: what you can sell, where you can sell it, and what you need to do first
- lavonnejarosz
- Jun 27
- 6 min read
A plain-English guide for women starting a food-based business in Arizona
Selling homemade food in Arizona is more possible than most people realize. If you have been making baked goods, jams, or other products at home and wondering whether you can turn that into a real business, the answer is very possibly yes. Below you will find what it takes to get started under Arizona's cottage food law, what you can sell, and where and how your products can reach your customers.
Arizona's cottage food program is governed by A.R.S. sections 36-931 through 36-933, expanded by House Bill 2042, signed into law on March 29, 2024. The implementing rules took effect February 4, 2025.
Step one: register with ADHS and get food handler certified
Before you sell a single item, two things are required by law. Get these done first.
Food handler certification. You or whoever directly supervises food preparation must complete a food handler training course from an accredited program and maintain active certification. This is a state requirement under A.R.S. 36-932(C). It is not something individual markets add on top.
ADHS registration. You must register with the online registry established by the Arizona Department of Health Services and renew every three years. Once registered, you must display your certificate whenever you sell anywhere other than your own home kitchen. That includes farmers markets, pop-ups, and community events.
Neither step requires a commercial kitchen or a conventional food establishment license. But skipping either one means the cottage food exemption does not apply to you.
One more operating rule worth knowing upfront: Cottage food products and food preparation equipment may not be stored anywhere outside your registered home. No storage units, warehouse shelves, or off-site refrigerators.
To register and find accredited food handler programs, start at azdhs.gov.
What counts as a cottage food product
Under A.R.S. 36-931, a cottage food product is food prepared in a home kitchen by or under the direct supervision of a registered individual. Current law covers two categories:
Non-potentially-hazardous foods. Shelf-stable foods that do not require refrigeration to stay safe. Baked goods, jams, candy, roasted nuts, dried herbs, dry mixes. This is the category most home producers start with.
Potentially hazardous foods, also called TCS foods. Since HB 2042, Arizona also permits foods that require time or temperature control for safety. Cheesecakes, custard pastries, and cream-filled items are no longer automatically excluded. They come with stricter handling and delivery requirements. See the delivery section below.
The following are expressly excluded regardless of how they are prepared:
Alcoholic beverages or foods that are or contain alcoholic beverages
Unpasteurized milk
Fish and shellfish products
Marijuana or marijuana products
Meat and poultry are excluded with narrow exceptions. If you raised the poultry yourself under the federal 1,000-bird exemption (9 CFR 381.10(c)), or if your meat or poultry comes from an inspected source under 9 CFR 381.10(d) or 9 CFR 303.1(d), those products may qualify. If meat or poultry is part of your product line, verify your specific situation with ADHS before you proceed.
Where you can sell
Farmers markets and community events. The most common venue for cottage food sellers. Bring your registration certificate every time you set up away from home.
Roadside and home sales. Permitted under state law, with an important caveat. A.R.S. 36-933 makes clear that the cottage food law does not override local building codes, zoning codes, or other land use regulations. Contact your city, town, or county before setting up a roadside stand or home pickup location.
Third-party vendors, including stores. Eligible cottage food products may be sold through a store or kiosk when the products are in a separate display from non-homemade items and the vendor posts a sign stating the products are homemade and exempt from state licensing and inspection. Cottage food products may not be used as an ingredient in food prepared by a permitted retail food establishment. Additional restrictions apply to TCS foods and products containing dairy, meat, or poultry. Confirm your arrangement with ADHS before placing any of those products with a retailer.
Online sales. Expressly permitted under A.R.S. 36-932(B). Your listing must prominently display your name, registration number, all ingredients, the production date, and the required disclosure statement. Sales and delivery are limited to within Arizona.
Delivery rules: this is where it gets specific
How you deliver depends entirely on what you are selling.
Shelf-stable products that do not contain dairy, meat, or poultry may be sold by you or your agent, including a third-party vendor, and delivered by you, your agent, the vendor, or a third-party carrier.
Dairy products and products containing meat or poultry must be sold by you as the registered preparer, either in person or remotely, including online. They must be delivered in person directly to the consumer. Third-party food-delivery platforms such as DoorDash or Uber Eats are not permitted for these products.
TCS or potentially hazardous products carry the strictest requirements. They must be delivered in person directly to the consumer, maintained at the appropriate temperature during delivery and until provided to the consumer, transported to no more than one destination, and transported for no longer than two hours, including traffic delays. They may not be delivered through a third-party food-delivery platform and may not be sold to the public anywhere other than the initial destination.
The statute and ADHS rule use slightly different language when addressing a shelf-stable product that contains a dairy ingredient but is not itself a dairy product. If that describes your product and you plan to use a third-party delivery service, confirm the permitted delivery method directly with ADHS.
Labeling: every unit, every time
Under A.R.S. 36-932(A) and rule R9-8-101.02, every cottage food product must be packaged at home with a clear, legible label that includes:
Your name and ADHS registration number
A list of all ingredients
The date the product was prepared
This statement: "This product was produced in a home kitchen that may come in contact with common food allergens and pet allergens and is not subject to public health inspection."
This statement: "To obtain additional information about cottage foods or to report a foodborne illness, go to azdhs.gov/Cottagefood."
If applicable, a statement that the food was prepared in the home kitchen of a facility for individuals with developmental disabilities
Your home address is not a required label item under the current statute. It is provided to ADHS during registration, not printed on the consumer label. Federal labeling, weights and measures, and allergen declaration requirements may also apply depending on your product. Complete a separate label review before your first sale.
Packaging must be clean, sanitary, secure, fully enclosed, appropriate for the food's consistency and temperature, and tamper-evident. The label itself may serve as the tamper-evident seal.
No revenue cap
Arizona imposes no gross revenue ceiling on cottage food sales. That said, as your volume grows, so do your obligations around delivery logistics, temperature control, insurance, and taxes. Keep that in mind as you plan.
Where to get current information, for free
You do not need to hire anyone to get accurate answers. Every resource below costs nothing.
Read the law yourself. A.R.S. sections 36-931, 36-932, and 36-933 are at azleg.gov. HB 2042 is there too. The implementing rule is R9-8-101.02. It is more readable than you might expect.
Call or email ADHS Food Safety directly. The ADHS Food Safety and Environmental Services program can be reached at (602) 364-3118 or foodsafety@azdhs.gov. Their general information line is (602) 542-1025. Verify current contact information at azdhs.gov before reaching out, as numbers can change. A short conversation gets you answers straight from the people who administer the program.
AZSBDC. The Arizona Small Business Development Center offers free one-on-one advising for food entrepreneurs. No cost, no pitch. azsbdc.net
Your city, town, or county. Local zoning and building codes still apply under A.R.S. 36-933. A quick call before you set up any fixed or roadside location is worth it.
A note from SheAchieves: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, food safety, or other professional advice. It reflects our good-faith reading of A.R.S. sections 36-931 through 36-933, HB 2042, and Arizona Administrative Code R9-8-101.02 as of June 2026. Laws, regulations, and agency guidance can change, and the rules may apply differently depending on your products and circumstances. Always verify current state and local requirements before you begin selling. For current program information, contact the ADHS Food Safety and Environmental Services Program at (602) 364-3118 or foodsafety@azdhs.gov, or visit azdhs.gov/CottageFood.
Ready to take the next step? Email us at info@sheachieves.org. We read every message and we are here to help you move forward.
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