Know the Rules

Applies to: Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs, Microgreens, Mushrooms, Flowers

Fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers can be sold directly to restaurants and consumers in Kansas with no special license. You are considered an approved source under Kansas food safety rules. You are still responsible for safe growing and handling practices, including proper pesticide use and clean harvesting.

Applies to: Eggs

Selling eggs directly to consumers with fewer than 250 hens does not require a license. However, selling eggs to restaurants, grocery stores, or for any kind of resale requires a KDA Egg License ($5/year). The license is easy to get through the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

Applies to: Meat

Meat and poultry sold to restaurants or food businesses must be processed at a USDA-inspected or KDA-inspected facility. You cannot sell uninspected meat to a restaurant or retail store. Kansas does allow a poultry exemption for producers processing fewer than 1,000 birds per year, but that exemption only covers direct-to-consumer sales, not restaurant sales.

Applies to: Dairy

All dairy products sold in Kansas must comply with KDA dairy licensing requirements. This includes milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, and similar products. Raw milk sales have additional restrictions. Contact KDA for specific requirements for your product.

Applies to: Honey

Honey is classified as a non-potentially-hazardous food in Kansas and can be sold directly to consumers and restaurants without a food establishment license. Proper labeling is required: your name, address, ingredients, and net weight.

Applies to: Specialty, Grains

Kansas cottage food law allows you to sell non-potentially-hazardous homemade food (baked goods, jams, dry mixes, candy, etc.) directly to consumers with no license, no inspections, and no revenue cap. However, cottage food cannot be sold to restaurants, grocery stores, or any third party for resale. Labels must include your name, address, ingredients, and a statement that the product was made in a home kitchen not inspected by KDA.

Applies to: Sauces, pickles, fermented foods, etc.

If you are making sauces, pickles, fermented foods, or other processed items and selling them to restaurants or retailers (wholesale), you need a Food Processing License from the Kansas Department of Agriculture. This involves facility inspection and compliance with the Kansas Food Code. Direct-to-consumer sales of non-hazardous items may fall under the cottage food exemption.