This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Permit and tax rules change, and your situation may differ. Always confirm current requirements with the official state agency linked in this guide, and consult a licensed attorney or tax professional for advice about your specific business.Last verified against official state sources: 2026-06-12
No license, registration, permit, or inspection for non-TCS foods made at home and sold directly to end consumers, at farmers markets, craft fairs, festivals, and bazaars. You just follow the sanitation rules in K.A.R. 4-28-33. TCS foods, wholesale, and consignment require a KDA Food Establishment or Processing license.
None; just the sanitation and hygiene practices (clean surfaces, handwashing, no bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods, no working while sick), with no class or exam.
Non-TCS foods: baked goods including fruit pies and cinnamon rolls, icings over 65 percent sugar, dry mixes, candy and fudge, chocolate-dipped items with commercial melting chocolate, high-acid home-canned jams and applesauce, fruit leathers, dried pasta, vanilla extract, spices, teas, popcorn, nuts and nut butters, honey, uncut produce, cultivated mushrooms, and eggs from under 250 hens. Borderline items (low-sugar jams, pepper jellies, pecan pie, mustard) need lab pH or water activity testing; K-State's Value Added Foods Lab tests them.
Without a license: cheesecake, cream pies, pumpkin pie, low-sugar cream cheese frostings, refrigerated doughs, cut produce, meat and jerky, pickles, salsa, hot sauce, fermented foods, low-acid canned goods, garlic in oil, infused oils, and dairy. A narrow carve-out lets some prepared foods sell unlicensed six or fewer days per calendar year.
Anywhere direct to the end consumer: from home, farmers markets, craft fairs, festivals, roadside stands, and online, with shipping explicitly allowed under the exemption (out-of-state shipping is subject to the receiving state's rules and FDA). The hard limits: never relinquish control of the product except to the end consumer (no consignment or leaving stock at another booth) and never wholesale.
Packaged products should carry the product's common name, your name and physical address, ingredients by predominance, and net quantity. Unusual for any state: Kansas does NOT require a homemade or not-inspected disclosure; the joint KDA/K-State guidance says uninspected products need no such marking, though you may add one voluntarily.
Every vendor registers for a Kansas retail sales tax certificate. The state rate on food and food ingredients has been 0 percent since January 1, 2025, but all local city and county taxes still apply to food, and prepared ready-to-eat food is taxed at the full 6.5 percent state rate plus local.
Markets and event organizers can set stricter rules, some counties (like Wyandotte) have their own food ordinances, and home-business zoning is local, so check with the market manager and city.
Operating a licensable food business without a license is unlawful; the exemption does not shield you from inspection if a violation is reported, KDA does random market checks, and adulterated or misbranded food can be embargoed.
Selling non-food crafts too? See the Kansas craft fair permit and sales tax guide.
Yes, under Kansas home food licensing exemption (K.S.A. 65-689(d)(4) and K.A.R. 4-28-33); Kansas has no formal cottage food law. No license, registration, permit, or inspection for non-TCS foods made at home and sold directly to end consumers, at farmers markets, craft fairs, festivals, and bazaars. You just follow the sanitation rules in K.A.R. 4-28-33. TCS foods, wholesale, and consignment require a KDA Food Establishment or Processing license.
Non-TCS foods: baked goods including fruit pies and cinnamon rolls, icings over 65 percent sugar, dry mixes, candy and fudge, chocolate-dipped items with commercial melting chocolate, high-acid home-canned jams and applesauce, fruit leathers, dried pasta, vanilla extract, spices, teas, popcorn, nuts and nut butters, honey, uncut produce, cultivated mushrooms, and eggs from under 250 hens. Borderline items (low-sugar jams, pepper jellies, pecan pie, mustard) need lab pH or water activity testing; K-State's Value Added Foods Lab tests them. Without a license: cheesecake, cream pies, pumpkin pie, low-sugar cream cheese frostings, refrigerated doughs, cut produce, meat and jerky, pickles, salsa, hot sauce, fermented foods, low-acid canned goods, garlic in oil, infused oils, and dairy. A narrow carve-out lets some prepared foods sell unlicensed six or fewer days per calendar year.
No. Kansas places no annual cap on cottage food sales.
Anywhere direct to the end consumer: from home, farmers markets, craft fairs, festivals, roadside stands, and online, with shipping explicitly allowed under the exemption (out-of-state shipping is subject to the receiving state's rules and FDA). The hard limits: never relinquish control of the product except to the end consumer (no consignment or leaving stock at another booth) and never wholesale.
Packaged products should carry the product's common name, your name and physical address, ingredients by predominance, and net quantity. Unusual for any state: Kansas does NOT require a homemade or not-inspected disclosure; the joint KDA/K-State guidance says uninspected products need no such marking, though you may add one voluntarily.
Every vendor registers for a Kansas retail sales tax certificate. The state rate on food and food ingredients has been 0 percent since January 1, 2025, but all local city and county taxes still apply to food, and prepared ready-to-eat food is taxed at the full 6.5 percent state rate plus local.
Browse upcoming craft fairs and markets in Kansas with booth fees and application deadlines, and use the booth ROI calculator to plan a profitable season.
Last verified: 2026-06-12. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.