Any person operating a food processing plant or processing foods for retail sale must obtain a food processing plant license from the Department of Agriculture (WSDA).  License fees are set in statute and based on gross annual sales.  Certain establishments licensed under other WSDA programs, including the state cottage food program, are exempt from the food processor plant license requirement.

Under the state cottage food program, a person may produce certain non-hazardous food products in a home kitchen for direct sale to a consumer.  In order to operate a cottage food business, a person must obtain a cottage food permit from the WSDA, and permits must be renewed annually with a $75 public health review fee, a $30 processing fee, and an inspection fee of $125 for any initial or annual basic hygiene inspections conducted.  Examples of products that may be produced under a cottage food permit are baked goods, jams, jellies, fruit butters, and preserves.  Annual gross sales for a cottage food business is capped at $25,000.  If the gross sales of a cottage food business exceeds $25,000, the business must either acquire a food processor's license, or cease operations.

The cap on annual gross sales for cottage food products is increased from $25,000, to $50,000.  The Department of Agriculture (WSDA) must review the cap every four years.  The WSDA must increase the cap by expedited rulemaking based on that year's Consumer Price Index for the Seattle area as compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor.

The WSDA must employ sufficient full-time equivalent staff to ensure timely processing of cottage food applications, and provide improved service to cottage food businesses.

Instead of annually, cottage food permits must be renewed every two years.

(In support) This idea has been introduced several times and will help small cottage food businesses make a profit.  This bill will help parents who need to stay home with kids earn a little extra money.  It will also help small, women-owned businesses.  Having to rent out a commercial kitchen is very expensive.  Business owners have noticed that people are increasingly interested in knowing where their food comes from, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Farmers markets have seen increases in revenue.  Ingredients like butter, flour and eggs are becoming increasingly more expensive, as are the ingredients needed to make gluten-free products.  With more expensive ingredients, businesses are meeting the cap in half the time as they had before.  Some businesses make larger, more expensive items such as wedding cakes and meet the cap quickly.  Other businesses prioritize buying locally produced ingredients, which promotes local spending but can be more expensive.  Every state has a cottage food program, and many do not have a sales cap.  Laws that prohibit the use of commercial equipment to produce cottage food products should relieve concerns about mass production.

(Opposed) None.

(Other) On the whole, the Department of Agriculture (WSDA) supports the concept of increasing the cap on gross sales.  Increasing the cap will also increase participation in the cottage food program.  The WSDA assumes that it will need one more full-time staff member to address more participation and to improve service to cottage food businesses as required by the bill.  The WSDA would like to request an amendment to review the cap every four years instead of two years.