How do I sell homemade jam legally in Vermont?
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Jams and jellies are named cottage food products in Vermont, so you can sell them from your home kitchen without a food manufacturing license [1] [2]. The condition is a yearly routine: complete the Vermont Department of Health's online training and file a licensing exemption in its portal before January 15 each year, starting before you make your first sale [2] [3]. Your gross receipts from cottage food must stay at $30,000 or less a year [1] [2]. The rules come from Act 42 of 2025 and the department's Manufactured Food Rule, effective January 15, 2026, so advice written before 2026 is out of date [1] [2].
The yearly cycle
- Take the training. The rule requires department-approved training "Both before beginning manufacturing and annually thereafter" [2]. The course is called License Exempt Food Processors and Cottage Food Operators Online Training [3].
- File the exemption by January 15. Filing is a self-attestation in the department's online portal, in which you confirm you completed the training. You get an email confirmation, not a certificate [3]. Previous filers must review the guidance and retake the training each year [3].
- Keep production at home. The kitchen must be in your private residential dwelling or on your personal property; renting a kitchen, even a licensed commercial one, disqualifies you from the exemption [2] [3].
- Watch the total. $30,000 in gross receipts from cottage food products a year [1] [2]. Vermont also lets you combine this with up to $10,000 of other processed food under its separate processor exemption [3].
Exempt operators still follow the Manufactured Food Rule, and a public health inspector may inspect you [3].
Jams that fit, and jams to ask about
The rule's list of cottage foods names "jams and jellies" outright, with no recipe or pH condition attached to that line [2]. A separate line covers home-canned pickles, vegetables and fruits, which must reach an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below (or a water activity of 0.85 or below) and come from a National Center for Home Food Preservation recipe or a food processing authority's review [2]. Every cottage food must also be a food that "does not require refrigeration" [1].
| Product | What the rule says | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Standard jam or jelly | Listed [2] | Use a tested recipe; file and train |
| Freezer jam | Needs refrigeration, so outside the definition [1] | Not eligible |
| Fruit butters and preserves | Not named [2] | Request a product determination |
| Low-sugar or sugar-free spread | Not named [2] | Request a product determination |
| Pepper jelly | Not named; the pickles and vegetables line, with its pH and recipe test, is the nearest fit [2] | Request a product determination; plan on a processing authority review |
| Pumpkin butter | Low-acid; no tested home canning process | Do not sell it canned |
The determination is built into the rule: when a product is not listed or it is unclear whether it qualifies, you "may submit a request to the Department for a determination" [2]. The department offers a Cottage Food Product Review Request Form for this [3]. Send it for each edge product before it goes on your table, and keep the answer. Pepper jelly is an acidified food, which is why the review line matters; see preserves cottage food laws often exclude.
A physical address and the VDH statement
The rule requires your operation's name and address, the product name, ingredients in descending order by weight, net weight or volume, allergen information, and nutrition labeling only if you make a nutrient or health claim [2]. The department adds that the address must be the physical home kitchen address, not a PO box [3]. Then the statement, in at least 10-point type in a color that contrasts with the label background [2]:
"Made in a home kitchen not inspected by the Vermont Department of Health."
Bulk items may use a sign or placard instead of individual labels [3]. The federal elements are on what a jam label must say.
Where you can sell
Here the sources stop short. Neither Act 42 nor the 2026 rule sets limits on venues, internet sales, shipping or sales to stores [2]. The department's page says one thing plainly: cottage food may not be sold to "restaurants or other licensed food establishments" [3]. Whether that bars a general store or a co-op that holds a food license is a question to ask the department before you approach one. If you plan to ship, ask too, and see selling jam online.
Above $30,000
Past the cap, or to supply restaurants and licensed food businesses, you need a food manufacturing establishment license from the Vermont Department of Health. See when you need a licensed kitchen.
Your contact: the Vermont Department of Health
The department's page "What You Need to Know about Home-Based Food Licenses or License Exemptions" (updated September 1, 2026) links the portal, the training, the rule and the product review form [3]. Some older summaries describe a $10,000 limit; under the 2026 rule that figure applies to non-bakery processors, and cottage food operations have their own $30,000 limit [2].
Verified against the 2026 rule in October 2026. With training and filing done, selling jam at a farmers market covers the stall and samples.
References
- Vermont General Assembly, Act 42 (H.401) As Enacted, signed June 2, 2025, effective July 1, 2025. https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT042/ACT042%20As%20Enacted.pdf
- Vermont Department of Health, Manufactured Food Rule (final adopted), effective January 15, 2026. https://healthvermont.gov/file/71401
- Vermont Department of Health, What You Need to Know about Home-Based Food Licenses or License Exemptions, updated September 1, 2026. https://www.healthvermont.gov/node/386
