Do I need a license to sell jam in New Hampshire?
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You can sell homemade jam in New Hampshire, and you need no license if you sell in person. A homestead food operation may sell jam unlicensed from your home, your own farm stand, a farmers market or a retail food store [1]. You need the $150 Class H homestead license to sell online, by mail order, to restaurants or to wholesalers [1]. Either way, the recipe matters most: jam made exactly from a National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) recipe needs no review, while your own recipe, or an NCHFP recipe you changed, needs a written process review by a food processing authority [1] [3].
Exempt or licensed: choose by where you sell
| You want to sell | Route | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| From your home, your own farm stand, a farmers market or a retail food store | Exempt, no license [1] [2] | None to the state |
| Online or by mail order | Class H homestead license: "Yes, only if you are a licensed Homestead food operation" [1] | $150 [1] |
| To restaurants or other food establishments (other than retail food stores), wholesalers, brokers or distributors | Class H homestead license [1] | $150 [1] |
Retail food stores are on the exempt side, which is unusual: an exempt producer may place jam in a shop [1]. Some farmers markets and other venues require vendors to hold a food establishment license anyway, so ask the market [2]. Fifteen cities and towns do their own food inspection; if you will sell in one of them, check with that community about its license [1]. The Class H license covers your home kitchen only; it cannot be used in a rented commercial kitchen [1]. No sales cap is stated in the sources reviewed, and interstate sales are not addressed [1] [2].
Which jars need a process review
A process review is a written evaluation by a food processing authority, a food scientist who checks your recipe and method. You may produce the food only if "the food processing authority declares in writing that there are no biological concerns with the food" [1]. A directory of processing authorities is kept by the Association of Food and Drug Officials [2].
| Product | Review needed? |
|---|---|
| Jam or jelly made exactly from an NCHFP recipe | No; but "the ingredients cannot be changed" without a review [1] |
| Your own recipe, a recipe from elsewhere online, or a tweaked NCHFP recipe | Yes, for each product [1] [3] |
| Apple butter and other fruit butters | Yes; DHHS notes fruit butters "have significantly less sugar than a traditional jam or jelly" [1] |
| Pumpkin butter | Not allowed; DHHS calls it "a low-acid food" that "cannot safely be made in a residential kitchen" [1] |
| Pepper jelly | Yes; license applications for jarred foods such as "pepper jellies" must include a copy of the process review [1] [2] |
| Low-sugar jam, freezer jam | Not named; a recipe outside NCHFP's would need a review [3] |
The sources differ on one point. The DHHS web page places the review requirement on licensed operations [1], while UNH Extension says a review "is required if you use your own recipe, a recipe from the internet other than from NCHFP" or tweak an NCHFP recipe, without limiting that to licensed sellers [3]. If you plan to sell an untested recipe under the exemption, get DHHS's answer in writing. Costs and how to find a reviewer are on working with a process authority.
Two labels, one for each route
Both routes require your name, address and phone number, the product name, ingredients in descending order by weight, allergens and a product code [1] [2]. A licensed jar also needs net weight in US customary and metric units [1]. The required statement must be at least 10 point [1]:
- Exempt: "This product is exempt from New Hampshire licensing and inspection." [1]
- Licensed: "This product is made in a residential food production area licensed by NH DHHS" (October 2025 FAQ) [2]. The older DHHS web page describes it as a licensed residential kitchen [1]; use the newer wording and confirm it with DHHS.
Hand-printed labels are allowed if legible, in permanent ink and large enough [1]. UNH Extension describes an alternative that lists ingredients through a QR code or website with a physical sign at the display, but it is "not allowed at farmers markets or retails stores" [3]. The federal elements are on what a jam label must say.
The DHHS Food Protection Section
The official page is the DHHS Homestead Food Operations page [1]. Ask the Food Protection Section about your products and route before your first sale, and keep any process review on file. Verified against DHHS sources in October 2026.
Taking New Hampshire jam into shops
Because exempt producers may sell to retail food stores, a shop shelf may be your next step; see selling jam to shops and cafes.
References
- New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Food Protection Section, Homestead Food Operations, not dated (FAQs dated October 27, 2015); viewed October 2026. https://dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/environmental-health-and-you/food-protection/homestead-food-operations
- New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Homestead Food Operations FAQ Reference Guide (copy hosted by the Town of Derry), last revised October 2025. https://www.derrynh.gov/public-health/files/nh-food-protection-homesteading-faqs-2026
- UNH Extension (Saucier Choate and Hamilton), Selling Homemade Food Products in NH: The Basics, Part One, updated March 2026. https://extension.unh.edu/resource/selling-homemade-food-products-new-hampshire-basics-part-one-fact-sheet
