06/02/2025
This is a HUGE win for both the businesses but also consumers! Shop small! Shop local!
The Texas Governor has just signed SB 541 into law, massively expanding opportunities for small farmers and individuals to make and sell home-produced foods!
The new law, effective September 1, will allow Texans to sell almost any kind of food they make in their home kitchen directly to consumers within our state. This includes all kinds of temperature-sensitive foods, like cheesecakes, vegetarian casseroles, cut fruits and vegetables, frozen produce, and more. The only exceptions are meat, poultry, seafood, low-acid canned goods, THC/CBD products, raw milk products, and ices/frozen desserts.
The new law will also allow the sale of non-refrigerated homemade foods through third-party vendors for the first time. So those homemade baked goods, jams, pickles, dried spices and herbs, and more can be sold through local co-ops, niche grocers, and cafes!!
SB 541 also makes numerous other smaller positive changes.
💰 It triples the annual sales cap to $150,000 and indexes it for inflation.
📑 It allows cottage food producers to register with DSHS instead of putting their home address on the label.
🍪 It creates simple, common-sense standards for providing samples to potential customers without permits.
💯 And it very explicitly clarifies that the local health departments cannot require permits or charge fees of cottage food producers.
This is the biggest expansion of the cottage food law we've ever had, and it puts Texas back at the forefront of the Food Freedom movement.
THANK YOU to Senator Lois Kolkhorst and Representative Lacey Hull for championing this important bill. We also want to recognize Kelley Masters at Homemade Texas for her tireless efforts in support of cottage food producers in our state.
This new law opens up significant opportunities for farmers and small food businesses across our state working to rebuild local food systems!
**** Got questions about the new law? We'll be offering a webinar on Sunday, June 29th! Sign up for email alerts on our website to stay informed and register for the event. https://farmandranchfreedom.org/ ****