As most people in the food industry know, different states have different rules for people who choose to run a bakery. One state may require a commercial kitchen, but others like Vermont are much more small business friendly, reports Burlington Free Press.
In Vermont, regulations for Menke’s home-based business called for a clean kitchen, the kind of refrigerator you might find in any house and a $50 fee.
According to the federal Small Business Administration, Vermont is one of only 11 states that allow bakeries in home kitchens.
The relative ease in Vermont has less to do with looser health restrictions and more to do with a cultural climate in the state that favors local foods and small businesses, said Elisabeth Wirsing, the Vermont Health Department’s food and lodging program chief.
“In Vermont, we’ve just realized that people are interested in having these small businesses,†she said.
She said she does not believe health standards are compromised by Vermont’s home bakery permit regulations.
Actual numbers are hard to come by because Vermont home bakeries with gross sales of less than $125 per week need no permits from the department, Wirsing said. The state has 162 home bakery licensees whose businesses gross more than $125 a week, she said.
Photo by Mike Tungate