Can you sell homemade jam in Rhode Island?

By Dwight Davis, Founder

Updated October 2026

On this page7

Two laws, one of them for jam What the farm route asks A 2026 bill to watch For everyone else: a licensed kitchen What to ask RIDOH Pricing jam made in rented kitchen time References

Only if you farm. Rhode Island's cottage food registration covers baked goods that need no refrigeration and nothing else, so a home cook in a house or apartment cannot sell jam under it [1]. A separate law, farm home food manufacture, lets a registered kitchen on the premises of a farm make "Jams, jellies, preserves and acid foods, such as vinegars" from locally grown produce and sell them at farmers markets, farm stands and farmer-run stores [2]. Everyone else needs a licensed kitchen. The single most important condition for the farm route is the location of the kitchen: it has to be on the farm [2].

Two laws, one of them for jam

	Cottage food manufacture (R.I. Gen. Laws § 21-27-6.2)	Farm home food manufacture (R.I. Gen. Laws § 21-27-6.1)
Who	Any registrant [1]	A kitchen on the premises of a farm [2]
Jam and jelly	Not covered; baked goods only [1]	Allowed, from locally grown fruits, vegetables or herbs [2]
Registration	$65 a year, notarized affidavit, product list and labels, food safety course [1]	Annual registration with the Department of Health, notarized affidavit of compliance, fee set under § 23-1-54 [2]
Where sold	Direct to consumers; farmers markets need a retail food peddler license [1]	Farmers markets, farm stands, and other markets and stores operated by farmers [2]
Sales cap	$50,000 gross a year [1]	None stated [2]
Label	"Made by a Cottage Food Business Registrant That is Not Subject to Routine Government Food Safety Inspection." [1]	Farm name, address and telephone number, and the ingredients [2]

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) is plain about the cottage route: cottage food manufacturers "are only allowed to make and sell baked goods that do not require refrigeration" [1]. That is why the fifty-state table marks Rhode Island Conditional: jam is allowed only from a farm kitchen, and for a non-farmer the practical answer is no.

What the farm route asks

The farm home food law limits production to nonpotentially hazardous foods that do not require refrigeration, made in a farm kitchen that meets housing standards [2]. For jam that means:

Local produce. The jam must be "prepared using fruits, vegetables and/or herbs that have been grown locally" [2]. The statute does not define "farm" or require that you grow every berry yourself, so ask RIDOH how it applies the local-produce test to your fruit.
A registered kitchen, renewed every year, with a notarized affidavit of compliance [2]. The fee is set in a separate section, § 23-1-54, which was not reviewed for this page; RIDOH will quote it.
Farmer-run outlets only. Sales happen at farmers markets, farm stands and "other markets and stores operated by farmers" for the retail sale of Rhode Island farm products [2]. Grocery chains and restaurants are not on the list.
The label: farm name, address and phone number, and an ingredient list [2]. Add the federal elements (product name, net weight, allergens) described on what a jam label must say.

Edge products on a farm

Freezer jam is out, since the law covers only foods that need no refrigeration [2]. The statute's wording includes vegetables and herbs, which might seem to open pepper or herb jelly, but pepper jelly is an acidified food, safe only with a recipe a process authority has checked; ask RIDOH in writing before you make one for sale. The law does not mention low-sugar jam or fruit butters [2]. If you grow fruit and are deciding whether to sell it fresh, sell the fruit or make jam compares the two.

A 2026 bill to watch

Senate Bill 2506 Substitute A, introduced February 6, 2026, would amend the farm home food law to add pickles and relish and a scheduled-process path for pickled vegetables [3]. Its text also requires allergen information on the label and, for products not made in a licensed commercial kitchen, the statement "Made by a registered farm home food manufacturer that is not subject to routine government food safety inspection." [3] Because the bill text does not mark which words are new, it is not clear from it whether that statement is already law. This page could not confirm from an official source whether the bill passed; the state map records the 2026 pickle bills as failed. Ask RIDOH which label wording applies to your jars now.

For everyone else: a licensed kitchen

RIDOH names two options outside the home laws: produce in a RIDOH-licensed commercial kitchen that you lease or rent, keeping a record of the dates you use it, or obtain a food processor license [1]. Either way, plan on a retail food peddler license for farmers markets and temporary events [1]. Renting kitchen time and the licenses that come with it are covered on when you need a licensed kitchen, and market logistics on selling jam at a farmers market.

What to ask RIDOH

The agency is the Rhode Island Department of Health, Center for Food Protection, 401-222-2749 [1]. Ask whether your kitchen qualifies as a farm home kitchen, what the current registration fee is, and the status of the 2026 amendments. Verified in October 2026.

Pricing jam made in rented kitchen time

If you take the licensed route, kitchen rent becomes a cost per jar. How to price jam shows how to fold it in, and the fifty-state table shows how Connecticut and Massachusetts treat the same jar.