Home cooks get a boost in income

New law lets permittees earn up to $50K a year, but critics say that’s still too low

Jessica Brainsky has lived in Massachusetts for years. She always has wanted to return to the Trumbull area, where she was born and raised. “My heart is here,” Brainsky said.

But her passion for baking kept her in Massachusetts. She runs a bakery out of her home. Connecticut’s cottage food laws were too restrictive. “It was hard to understand the rationale. You’re only allowed to earn $25,000 a year? That’s too stifling,” she said.

Brainsky now plans to move back, since the General Assembly unanimously passed, and the governor signed, a law doubling the amount of annual revenue cottage food permittees are allowed.

“Fifty thousand is still really hard to live on, but it’s certainly an improvement. It opens the door for more change in the future,” she said.

Cottage permittees — who make shelf-stable foods in their homes and sell it — have operated in the state since 2018. Almost 600 residents have permits. They can make up to $25,000 annual revenue; after $25,000, they legally must upgrade to a commercial license.

With the passage of SB187, introduced by Phil Young, D-stratford, and Devin Carney, R-lyme-old Lyme-old Saybrook-westbrook, the cap is now $50,000. SB187 takes effect Oct. 1.

Cottage food permittees and advocates are happy they made progress, but they say it’s just the beginning. “We hope for the future we can widen that to eventually having no cap at all,” Young said.

That would put it in line with Massachusetts, where cottage permittees have no cap. “It would be best if the bill were taken to a higher step so people in this field can make a realistic living,” Brainsky said in her testimony before the Joint Committee on General Law.

Cottage permittees are the smallest of small businesses. Permittees’ love for cooking is matched with a business model that suits them, making a living using their own kitchen equipment in

“With the economic devastation brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and an ever-rising cost of living, arbitrary revenue limits should not be placed on residents who are simply trying to provide for their families.”

— Jennifer Mcdonald, Institute for Justice, a Washington D.c.-based public interest law firm whose specialties include cottage permit advocacy

their home, where they can watch their kids and set their own hours and have relatively low overhead costs. Increasingly, permittees want to keep their cottage setups without regulatory curbs on their sales possibilities or their incomes.

Jennifer Mcdonald of the Institute for Justice, a Washington, D.c.-based public interest law firm whose specialties include cottage permit advocacy, said “Revenue caps on cottage food businesses are increasingly becoming a thing of the past.

“With the economic devastation brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and an ever-rising cost of living, arbitrary revenue limits should not be placed on residents who are simply trying to provide for their families,” Mcdonald wrote in committee testimony. “Only 12 other states have a sales cap that is $50,000 or lower, and 31 states do not have a sales cap at all.”

Because of the earnings cap, many permittees have other jobs to make ends meet.

Revenue caps are only one grievance that cottage permittees have with state regulations. Mcdonald, Young and other advocates say they will keep coming back to the legislature with more suggested amendments to make life and business easier for cottage permittees.

“These programs provide access and an avenue to entrepreneurship for people who may not have a ton of capital,” Mcdonald said.

Several cottage permittees submitted testimony to the committee. Many of them, including Ashley Dione of Vernon, asked legislators to do even more. “The reform should go further. Specifically, the bill should be amended to eliminate the annual revenue cap entirely, allow internet orders and mail delivery within Connecticut and prevent localities from banning the sale of cottage foods,” Dione’s testimony read.

Until last year, Norwalk and Waterbury were the only municipalities in the state to not allow cottage food businesses. Both now permit cottage businesses. “Cottage businesses in Waterbury are considered permissible home occupation uses. This follows last year’s amendments to the Connecticut General Statutes,” said Waterbury City Planner Robert Nerney, referring to Public Act No. 21-29.

Current regulations ban shipping of cottage permittee-made products. Cottage food orders must be sold in person, usually by custom order, at farmers markets or other person-to-person interactions.

Aaron Perrott, who makes French macarons out of his Berlin home, under the name A La Mac, said this aspect of state regulations makes no sense.

“The reason is they don’t want to risk somebody getting sick. I understand. But the whole regulation for us to make these products, is they have to be non potentially hazardous, that don’t require refrigeration. Not being allowed to ship something because you’re worried somebody will get sick if it’s not refrigerated when we’re not able to make refrigerated things anyway?” he said.

Perrott, who said A La Mac made about $10,000 last year, also has a full-time job in the food service industry. He said the $50,000 cap won’t inspire him to quit that job. What would inspire him would be a total removal of the cap and the ability to ship.

“Any business owner would say, there is no reason for the state to limit how much money I make. I pay taxes. So think about it. The more money I make, the more money the state makes,” he said. “Why else would anyone go into business for themselves? You don’t want anyone to limit how much money you make.”