Confita
What District of Columbia actually decides
DC Health calls this a registration rather than a licence and answers no when asked whether you need a licence. In practice you may not sell without it and its number prints on every label, so treat it as mandatory whatever it is called. It costs $50 for one certificate plus $5 for each additional one, and there is a pre-opening inspection.
The training requirement is at the heavier end. You need a nationally accredited Certified Food Protection Manager course and then a District-issued CFPM certificate, valid three years from the date of the exam. That is a manager-level qualification, not a food handler card.
June 2025 widened the channels usefully. Cottage food businesses may now sell wholesale to licensed food establishments inside the District, and the definition of a cottage food product was rewritten to cover direct, retail, wholesale to licensed food establishments, and online sales. There is no sales cap.
The kitchen rules are specific about who is in the room. Pets are excluded while you prepare, package or handle food, infants and small children may not be in the kitchen, and only the owner or people under the owner's direct supervision may handle the products or be in the kitchen at all.
The short version
What you can sell in District of Columbia
Straight from the official record. Read these as categories rather than a menu, because one recipe can cross the line on its own: a filling that needs refrigeration, a pH that needs testing, or a process that needs an authority to sign it off.
- Baked goods without cream, custard, cheese or meat fillings, such as breads, biscuits, churros, muffins, rolls, scones and sweet breads
- Cakes, including celebration cakes for birthdays, anniversaries and weddings
- Pastries, pies, brownies, cookies and tortillas
- Fruit pies, fruit empanadas and fruit tamales
- Unfilled baked donuts, waffle cones and pizzelles
- Candies such as brittles, toffee, chocolates, cotton candy, fudge, truffles and confections
- Snacks such as caramel corn, chocolate-covered nonperishable foods, nuts and dried fruits, crackers, pretzels, seeds, popcorn and popcorn balls
- Cereals, trail mixes and granola
- Jams, jellies, syrups, marmalades and other preserves
- Honey and honeycomb, which need a separate registration with the Department of Energy and Environment under the beekeeping act
- Roasted coffee, whole bean or ground, and dry tea blends
- Dried pasta, dry herbs and herb blends, seasoning blends, dry baking mixes, vinegar and flavoured vinegars
What is outside the rule
If your product is on this list, the answer is not "ask nicely". It is a different licence, a different kitchen, or both.
- Fish or shellfish products, and fresh, dried or dehydrated meat or poultry including jerkies
- Baked goods needing refrigeration: cream, custard or meringue pies and cakes, and pastries with cream cheese icings or fillings
- Milk and dairy products including hard, soft and cottage cheeses and yogurt, and cheese made with unpasteurized milk
- Cut fresh fruits or vegetables and anything made from them or from cooked vegetable products, including focaccia-style breads with vegetables or cheeses
- Canned pickled products such as corn relish, pickles or sauerkraut, and garlic or vegetable in oil mixtures
- Pumpkin or fruit butters, and sugar-free jams, jellies, syrups, marmalades and other preserves
- Raw seed sprouts, raw cookie dough, mushrooms, ice and ice products
- Barbeque sauces, ketchups and mustards, and pet food or treats
Where you are allowed to sell it
The researched record lists direct sales, farmers markets, online orders, retail or wholesale, restaurants.
One channel being open does not open the rest. Shipping, delivery and wholesale each turn on the product and where it is going, so check the route you actually plan to use.
