Everyone loves a batch of fresh-baked cookies or a cake right out of the oven. But Minnesota has slammed the oven door on bakers trying to make a home-based business out of satisfying Minnesotans’ sweet tooth.
Jane Astramecki, a home baker and graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, sells her goods at farmers’ markets in Eagan and Farmington. She continually receives requests from market customers who would like her to bake for special family occasions or work events. But because of Minnesota’s cottage food restrictions, she has to tell them, “No.”
Like nearly every other state in the nation, Minnesota has a “cottage food” law—a law allowing the sale of certain inherently-safe foods made in a home, rather than in a commercial, kitchen. These foods, defined by the government as “not potentially hazardous,” include: bakery products, such as bread, cakes, cookies, fruit pies, and rolls; and certain canned (jarred) items, such as jams, pickles, salsas, and naturally fermented foods. [contextly_sidebar id=”08a6aa6d97400eba5c2dca5cffec1aab”]
But there are a couple of very significant catches that make Minnesota’s cottage food law one of the most restrictive in the nation and make it difficult, if not impossible, to launch a successful cottage food business. First, Minnesota severely restricts where cottage food entrepreneurs may sell their products. Specifically, they may only sell them at a farmers’ market or community event. That means sales from the home, in a gourmet food shop, at a job site or over the internet are prohibited. So if you know a good home baker in Minnesota and would like to have her make your wedding cake, you’re out of luck—unless you make a pit stop at the farmers’ market on your way to the chapel.
Second, even too much success selling at a farmers’ market or community event is illegal. That’s because Minnesota caps the annual sales of cottage food producers at $5,000—just $96 per week. The cap applies to all products in the aggregate, not on a per-product basis. And were that not bad enough, the cap is on gross receipts, not profits. Because the cost of ingredients, the price of a stall at a farmers’ market, and other business-related expenses can easily surpass the $5,000 a cottage food producer is allowed to take in, an otherwise successful small business may be doomed for failure before it even gets off the ground. To top it off, violating Minnesota’s cottage food restrictions comes at a heavy price: a misdemeanor conviction punishable by up to 90 days in jail or fines of $7,500 per violation.
Fortunately for Jane and the many other cottage food producers in Minnesota, the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Minnesota Constitution protect the right of entrepreneurs to earn an honest living. When the government regulates an occupation in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the Minnesota Constitution requires that the law be logical—not arbitrary or unreasonable—and that there be an “evident connection,” grounded in fact, between the law and the governmental purpose behind it. Minnesota’s cottage food restrictions do not fit that bill.
Jane is fighting back, and has teamed up with the Institute for Justice to challenge Minnesota’s senseless cottage food restrictions. Their case aims to vindicate the right of all of Minnesota’s cottage food producers to build a successful home-based business selling their delicious home-baked treats.
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