A person who bakes bread at home gets a commercial kitchen license

The Home Gardening Act, which allowed people to grow certain types of food at home without needing a USDA permit or inspection, restricted them from advertising their businesses online or selling them through websites or social media.

Bill 759, which passed on July 1, 2024, expands the exemption for private homes to allow residents to process and prepare certain foods and sell them at temporary events held for no more than 14 consecutive days. The bill also clarifies that individuals can advertise food products on the internet, as long as the sales are conducted in person and follow certain restrictions.

As more bakers try to understand the intricacies of home-grown food while trying to sell baked goods from home, more business owners are opting to get their homes inspected by the USDA, obtain licenses and permits and sell their products online.

Nikita Ford, owner of Sweets by Keet, said, “I talk to a lot of bakers and some are OK with the cottage law, but I always tell them if you put in a little more effort and get inspected by the Virginia Department of Agriculture, the world can be yours. You can do events that require permits. I tell people not to limit themselves. Get the licenses, inspections and permits, because it really helps you in the long run.”

Is this a complicated process for home bakers? Ford, who has been baking professionally from home since 2019, says, “It's easier to work from home, so I decided to take the plunge and bring my bakery here. We basically followed the same procedure as the Virginia Department of Agriculture, where an inspector came to our house and did their due diligence. We had to provide the layout of our kitchen and the layout of our space. We also had to provide recipes for labeling, but we got the inspection in one take and it was all done.” [Laws for an in-home baker are] “It's just like running a brick-and-mortar store. I ran a brick-and-mortar store for two years, so I know that.”

Nancy Crockett of Pudgy Cakes and Treats started her bakery in her home 12 years ago. “It was really hard getting started. There's not a lot of information, you just have to research it yourself,” she says. “Virginia's cottage laws can be confusing sometimes, so you really have to do your research.”

“When I first started baking, I was in the kitchen, then when I got divorced and moved, [to her present house]So I decided to rebrand, remodeled the bedroom and made it into a kitchen. It took about six months to get everything going, got the licenses, got everything inspected and went from there.”

These home bakers create similar products, including special occasion cakes, iced cookies, brownies, bars, etc. “One of my specialties is lactation cookies for nursing mothers that help with milk production, and I'm really proud of that,” Ford said.

These bakeries don't have to work long hours at farmers' markets to promote their brand, and since becoming USDA-certified, it's been relatively easy to build brand awareness for these three bakeries. “A bride I worked with 10 years ago had her first child, so I made her a baby cake,” Crockett says. “Her son just turned 10, and she's my favorite to buy cakes every year. We have a lot of people coming back for custom cookies and cakes.”

For Ford, it's the level of customer service that sets her apart: “I think it's all about customer service. Regardless of how much money a customer spends with me, I want them to have a really good impression of who I am and what my brand stands for,” she said.

Plus, there's dealing with the challenges that come with working from home. Denman says, “I totally screwed up my family. My kids think every house should smell like a bakery. Secondly, customers assume you're home all the time so you're available 24/7. At first, I was worried people wouldn't take me seriously because I didn't have a brick-and-mortar store and I worked from home, but I realized people loved it. Once I learned how to set parameters and say I can't be available at certain times, it all worked out.”

Denman differentiates herself by buying local ingredients whenever possible and focusing on allergy-friendly baked goods. “Everything I make is homemade; nothing is store-bought,” she says. “I work with local customers whose products I love. I recently started working with Crescent, and we carry their syrups, and also with Seek Lavender in Culpeper for their lavender extract. Last year, I converted my bakery to a 100% nut-free bakery, and I can cater to celiac and gluten-free. Basically, my kids have allergies, so I thought I'd give it a try. As a mom of a kid with allergies, I understand the challenges of nut allergies.”

All of these bakers are licensed to prepare bread from home, allowing them to operate without having to pay rent or negotiate a lease on a commercial kitchen. It's also a huge added value in terms of family time. All three bakers are mothers who work full-time jobs and raise children. It's a great ending for everyone involved.