State by State Guide to Commercial, Shared and Community Kitchens

Looking for State by State Guide to Commercial, Shared and Community Kitchens in 2026?  Scroll down this page and  follow the links. And if you bring home some fruit or vegetables and want to can, freeze, make jam, salsa or pickles, see this page for simple, reliable, illustrated canning, freezing or preserving directions. There are plenty of other related resources, click on the resources dropdown above.  If you are having a hard time finding canning lids, I've used these, and they're a great price & ship in 2 days.

If you have questions or feedback, please let me know! There are affiliate links on this page.  Read our disclosure policy to learn more. 

State by State Guide to Commercial, Shared and Community Kitchens

• • Community Kitchens, Incubators and Shared Commercial Kitchens

    If you want to make and sell your home-made preserves, salsa, spaghetti sauce, applesauce, apple butter, jams, jellies, or whatever, you will need a licensed kitchen to prepare and can the food. You can pay a co-packer to make and package the food for you (see this page) or you can legally make it yourself in a licensed kitchen.

    State by State guide to Commercial, Shared and Community Kitchens

    Note: this list is a (new) work in progress - It should be completed by Spring 2019

    Click on your state or country below, then scroll down that page!

    Alabama Arizona Alaska Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho llinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington state West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming   Other countries: United Kingdom Canada Australia Germany Greece Ireland Italy Japan New Zealand South Africa Switzerland

More resources:

• FDA Food labeling information.
• Good to know (not a requirement): Guidelines for Determining Metric Equivalents of Household Measures (October 1, 1993)
•  Massachusetts has a Food Processors Resource Manual that is a practical guide for specialty food and start-up food processors published by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. The marketing and practical tips can be very useful to a cottage food kitchen in any state.  The chapters are available online and as a downloadable document pdf format
  Introduction
  Starting Out
  Production
  Residential Kitchens: Questions and Answers
  Developing a Business Plan
  Label and Product Regulations
  Label Design
  Promotion
  Distribution and Sales
  Trade Shows
  Using the Internet for Marketing

Questions? Contact Information: