Wisconsin: the home-kitchen movement
Restricted Pickle Bill (2009 Wisconsin Act 101; Wis. Stat. section 97.29(2)(b)2.) - home-canned acidic fruits and pickled vegetables · Court-ordered baked-goods exemption (Lafayette County Circuit Court, Case No. 2016CV6, 2017) - homemade, shelf-stable baked goods
Wisconsin has no formal 'cottage food law.' Instead there are two narrow paths to sell food made in a home kitchen without a license. The Pickle Bill (2009 WI Act 101) lets a person sell home-canned fruits and vegetables that are naturally acidic or acidified by pickling/fermenting (finished pH of 4.6 or lower) at farmers' markets or community/social events, capped at $5,000 per person per year, with mandatory signage and labeling. Separately, a 2017 Lafayette County Circuit Court ruling enjoined DATCP from requiring a retail food establishment license for sellers of homemade, shelf-stable BAKED goods (cookies, cakes, muffins); in November 2024 the Wisconsin Court of Appeals confirmed the limits of that ruling by reversing a lower-court order that would have extended the exemption to unbaked, non-potentially-hazardous homemade foods such as fudge and candies. Everything else prepared at home for sale (meals, potentially hazardous foods, unbaked confections, meat, dairy) requires a license.
Where it stands
November 19, 2024: In Wisconsin Cottage Food Association v. DATCP (Appeal No. 2023AP367), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals REVERSED a circuit court order that had declared the retail food establishment laws unconstitutional as applied to sellers of UNBAKED, not-potentially-hazardous homemade foods (fudges, candies, energy bars, roasted coffee beans, dried soup mixes). The court held the licensing laws constitutional and remanded with directions to enter judgment for DATCP and dismiss - so unbaked homemade confections still require a license, and the 2017 ruling remains confined to baked goods. March 19, 2026: 2025 Assembly Bill 748 (LRB-5514/1), which would have replaced the Pickle Bill exemption with a unified two-tier cottage-food system (DATCP registration + product/ingredient lists, general liability insurance, <$10,000/year 'small producers' with a point-of-sale sign, $10,000-$40,000/year 'cottage food producers' with a certified food protection manager credential and a DATCP home inspection, plus a < $40,000 gross-sales cap), FAILED TO PASS pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1 after a Jan. 29, 2026 public hearing. Earlier failed bills: 2023 AB 897 and SB 813 (would have raised the Pickle Bill cap to $20,000/$25,000 and added non-potentially-hazardous foods) did not pass in the 2023-24 session; 2017 SB 271/AB 360 ($7,500 baked-goods exemption) also did not pass. Net: no statutory change to the Pickle Bill $5,000 cap or baked-goods rules in 2024-2026; could not verify from a primary source whether WCFA petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court for review of the Nov. 2024 decision, or whether a successor cottage-food bill will be introduced in a future session.
Residents can find and support local kitchens through the Wisconsin hub — browse kitchens, read the law guide, and see what is cooking near you.
Cottage food fight in Wisconsin
1 supporter(s) and 0 opposition entr(ies) on this page carry this track tag — see Supporters / Opposition below.
- 2024 — Wisconsin Cottage Food Association v. DATCP — appeals court reverses expansion
In Wisconsin Cottage Food Association v. DATCP (Appeal No. 2023AP367, November 19, 2024), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals reversed a circuit court order that had declared the retail food establishment laws unconstitutional as applied to sellers of unbaked, not-potentially-hazardous homemade foods; unbaked homemade confections still require a license and the 2017 ruling remains confined to baked goods. Source - 2026 — Pickle Bill (2009 Wisconsin Act 101; Wis. Stat. section 97.29(2)(b)2.) - home-canned acidic fruits and pickled vegetables
March 19, 2026: 2025 Assembly Bill 748 (LRB-5514/1), which would have replaced the Pickle Bill exemption with a unified two-tier cottage-food system (DATCP registration + product/ingredient lists, general liability insurance, <$10,000/year 'small producers' with a point-of-sale sign, $10,000-$40,000/year 'cottage food producers' with a certified food protection manager credential and a DATCP home inspection, plus a < Source
How we got here
- 2024 — Pickle Bill (2009 Wisconsin Act 101; Wis. Stat. section 97.29(2)(b)2.) - home-canned acidic fruits and pickled vegetables Cottage food fight
November 19, 2024: In Wisconsin Cottage Food Association v. Source - — Pickle Bill (2009 Wisconsin Act 101; Wis. Stat. section 97.29(2)(b)2.) - home-canned acidic fruits and pickled vegetables
2023AP367), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals REVERSED a circuit court order that had declared the retail food establishment laws unconstitutional as applied to sellers of UNBAKED, not-potentially-hazardous homemade foods (fudges, candies, energy bars, roasted coffee beans, dried soup mixes). Source - 2017 — Pickle Bill (2009 Wisconsin Act 101; Wis. Stat. section 97.29(2)(b)2.) - home-canned acidic fruits and pickled vegetables
The court held the licensing laws constitutional and remanded with directions to enter judgment for DATCP and dismiss - so unbaked homemade confections still require a license, and the 2017 ruling remains confined to baked goods. Source - 2026 — Pickle Bill (2009 Wisconsin Act 101; Wis. Stat. section 97.29(2)(b)2.) - home-canned acidic fruits and pickled vegetables Cottage food fight
March 19, 2026: 2025 Assembly Bill 748 (LRB-5514/1), which would have replaced the Pickle Bill exemption with a unified two-tier cottage-food system (DATCP registration + product/ingredient lists, general liability insurance, <$10,000/year 'small producers' with a point-of-sale sign, $10,000-$40,000/year 'cottage food producers' with a certified food protection manager credential and a DATCP home inspection, plus a < Source - 2024 — Wisconsin Cottage Food Association v. DATCP — appeals court reverses expansion Cottage food fight
In Wisconsin Cottage Food Association v. DATCP (Appeal No. 2023AP367, November 19, 2024), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals reversed a circuit court order that had declared the retail food establishment laws unconstitutional as applied to sellers of unbaked, not-potentially-hazardous homemade foods; unbaked homemade confections still require a license and the 2017 ruling remains confined to baked goods. Source
Supporters
On the public record supporting home kitchens in Wisconsin.
Institute for Justice Cottage food fight
Litigates with Wisconsin home food sellers challenging the ban on selling many shelf-stable homemade foods
Opposition
No on-record opposition has been verified for this state yet.
The deciders
Governor
Office of the Governor of Wisconsin (name not yet verified in this research pass)
Contact the deciders
A pre-written letter in Wisconsin's own terminology. The buttons open it in your email — addressed by you to the office above. Nothing sends until you press send.