Colorado cottage food laws

Colorado's Cottage Foods Act lives at CRS 25-4-1614 and is administered by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). The Act exempts home-produced shelf-stable foods from retail food establishment licensing when sold directly to consumers, but it adds two requirements that most cottage food laws skip: a mandatory food safety training course before selling, and a $10,000 per-product net revenue cap each year.

The training requirement is met through a CDPHE-recognized course such as the CSU Extension Cottage Foods Safety class or an approved equivalent. The course covers safe production, labeling, and venue rules. Producers must keep proof of completion and renew at the interval the course provider sets (typically every three years).

The $10,000 cap is per product, not per operator. Colorado treats different flavors or varieties as separate products in some cases, so a baker selling chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies generally has two separate $10,000 buckets. CDPHE recommends keeping clean per-product sales records to demonstrate compliance. House Bill 26-1033 (introduced for the 2026 session) proposes to remove the cap entirely; an earlier expansion bill (HB 25-1190, the Tamale Act) was postponed indefinitely in 2025.

Sales must be direct to the end consumer in Colorado. Online and phone orders are allowed for in-state delivery or pickup; out-of-state shipping is not authorized under cottage food. Sales to grocery stores, restaurants, or other retailers for resale are not allowed.

Colorado limits cottage food sales to $10,000 in net revenue per individual product per calendar year. The cap is applied per product, not per operator, so two clearly distinct products each have their own $10,000 bucket. Producers must keep records by product. Crossing the cap for a product means moving that product into a licensed kitchen, not necessarily ending the entire operation.

Colorado requires every cottage food producer to complete a CDPHE-recognized food safety training course before selling. The standard course is the CSU Extension Cottage Foods Safety class, which is offered live (Zoom) and on-demand. Other CDPHE-recognized providers can be substituted; the course typically takes about 2 to 4 hours and costs $25 to $75. Keep proof of completion with your records and be ready to show it on request.

Colorado does not require statewide registration for cottage food operators, only the food safety training and the labeling rules. Some local health departments ask cottage operators to notify them; check with your county. There is no fee or inspection.