Hawaii Cottage Food Law

Hawaii's cottage food law sets no statewide revenue cap and no state permit or registration is required. Homemade food products may be distributed directly to the consumer, in person or remotely, including by telephone or the internet, or through an agent or a third-party vendor such as a food establishment, and delivered by the operator, an agent, or a third-party vendor, by mail, or by shipping (HAR § 11-50-3(c)(4)). The Department of Health says products may be sold at fundraisers, craft fairs, farmers markets, and online, and may be wholesaled to permitted food establishments such as restaurants and grocery stores; a restaurant that uses the product in a menu item must have written disclosure that it is a homemade food product and make the label available to patrons on request. Some event organizers require a Special Event permit. The rule does not address shipping outside Hawaii, and out-of-state shipments are subject to federal law and the destination state's rules. Hand-pounded poi may be sold only directly to the consumer (HAR § 11-50-3(c)(5)).

Watch for: Pickled, fermented, or acidified products must be plant foods (not melons) with a pH of 4.2 or less or a water activity below 0.88, and any product with cut tomatoes, such as salsa, must be kept at or below 41°F (HAR § 11-50-2). Dried meats and seafood are excluded, and the Department of Health says no vacuum packaging and no canning except jams and jellies. Meeting the pH or water activity limit is the producer's responsibility.

Annual revenue cap

No cap

Permit / registration

Not required

Kitchen inspection

Not required

Food handler training

Required

Acidified foods

Permitted (pH test)

Interstate shipping

In-state only

Where you can sell

Homemade food products may be distributed directly to the consumer, in person or remotely, including by telephone or the internet, or through an agent or a third-party vendor such as a food establishment, and delivered by the operator, an agent, or a third-party vendor, by mail, or by shipping (HAR § 11-50-3(c)(4)). The Department of Health says products may be sold at fundraisers, craft fairs, farmers markets, and online, and may be wholesaled to permitted food establishments such as restaurants and grocery stores; a restaurant that uses the product in a menu item must have written disclosure that it is a homemade food product and make the label available to patrons on request. Some event organizers require a Special Event permit. The rule does not address shipping outside Hawaii, and out-of-state shipments are subject to federal law and the destination state's rules. Hand-pounded poi may be sold only directly to the consumer (HAR § 11-50-3(c)(5)).

Direct (in-person)
Farmers markets
Online (in-state)
In-state mail
Retail / grocery
Restaurants / food service

What's required before your first sale

No food establishment permit or registration. Operators must obtain food safety certification by completing a food safety course that is part of a Department of Health program or another DOH-approved program (HAR §§ 11-50-3(c)(1), 11-50-20(c)); DOH says ANSI-accredited courses meet this requirement. A handwashing sink with cleaning compound must be available during food preparation (§ 11-50-3(c)(2)), and every product must be labeled (§ 11-50-35(c)(4)). Homemade food operations are not routinely inspected but remain subject to DOH inspection (§ 11-50-8).

Allowed and excluded foods

Permitted under cottage food

Foods that do not require time/temperature control for safety, such as baked goods without custard or cream fillings, and jams and jellies
Pickled, fermented, or acidified plant foods with a pH of 4.2 or less or a water activity below 0.88, such as pickles, kimchi, and salsa (cut-tomato products kept at or below 41°F)
Juice sold directly to the consumer (DOH guidance)
Hand-pounded poi (separate label statement; direct-to-consumer sales only)

Excluded from cottage food

Dried meats and seafood, such as beef jerky and dried aku
Pickled, fermented, or acidified melons and other melon-family fruits; DOH guidance also lists dried melons and dried tomatoes
Foods that require time/temperature control for safety (other than refrigerated cut-tomato products such as salsa)
Vacuum-packaged foods, and canned foods other than jams and jellies (DOH guidance)

Label requirements

Verbatim disclosure required by HAR § 11-50-35(c)(4)(A): "Made in a home kitchen not routinely inspected by the Department of Health" (the rule carries no trailing period; the DOH sample label adds one)
Common name of the food, or an adequately descriptive identity statement if no common name exists
For foods made from two or more ingredients, the ingredients and sub-ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight
Notification of the presence of major food allergens (DOH lists milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame)
Name and contact information of the homemade food product producer (a street address is not specifically required; Hawaii issues no registration number)
Package products the way they will be sold (DOH guidance)
Hand-pounded poi uses a different required statement: "This hand-pounded poi was prepared in a facility not inspected by the Department of Health", plus the producer's name and contact information (HAR § 11-50-35(c)(5))

How Ardent Seller helps

Generate your Hawaii disclosure label in one click

Ardent Seller assembles a print-ready cottage food label for Hawaii from data you already track — the state's required disclosure statement rendered verbatim (and sized to meet the state's minimum type size where one applies), your operator info, ingredients in descending order by weight, the federal "Contains:" allergen line, net weight, and lot code. A validation checklist flags anything Hawaii requires that's missing before you print. Included on every plan.

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