Home Bakery In Az

Business By Bettyviolet101 Updated 18 Oct 2011 , 11:46pm by JO13

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Bettyviolet101 Posted 22 Jan 2011 , 1:42am
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I know its illegal to have a home bakery out of your kitchen but is it legal to have a seperate kitchen on your property? Can anyone point me towards a website that states those laws? Also, is it legal in AZ to rent out a commercial inspected kitchen to do some cakes?

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ladyellam Posted 22 Jan 2011 , 2:05am
post #2 of 79

Each county in Arizona has their own rules. Depending on where you live, I would give a call to the county health department and inquire. The zoning rules on what you can/cannot have differ greatly between each county.

Sorry I couldn't give you a better answer.

Kathy

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Bettyviolet101 Posted 22 Jan 2011 , 2:18am
post #3 of 79

Really??? I had no idea I will look into that on Monday. Thanks!

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KimAZ Posted 22 Jan 2011 , 5:10am
post #4 of 79

Hi,
Trust me when I say you will get a major run around if you attempt to talk to anyone at the Health Dept, Dept of Agriculture, Zoning Dept, AZ State, your city, Dept of Commerce, Home Enviromental Heath, etc. I've tried them all and have yet to see one single thing in writing online or from a live person on the phone that says a yes or no on this subject.

You call one and they refer you to another, who refers you to another, etc, etc and nobody's stories are the same. Call again another day, same run around. I have literally spent 6-7 hours online trying every resource I could find and find nothing that says yes or says no.

I have found wording that says certain cities will allow home bakeries with X number of licenses and even found articles written saying it is totally allowed and to contact the above depts for all the details and info you need. Yet when you call or email or inqure in any way, it's a total dead end.

So if anyone out there has a written document that says one way or another, I'd LOVE to see it!

KimAZ

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KimAZ Posted 22 Jan 2011 , 5:11am
post #5 of 79

Oh and yes, it is legal to rent from commerical kitchens to do cakes. I know many decorators who do exactly that.

KimAZ

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ladyellam Posted 22 Jan 2011 , 6:47am
post #6 of 79

Kim's right on the renting of a legal commercial kitchen. Our county doesn't allow any commercial kitchens except one that is on a commercially zoned area. Even if you had a perfect commercial kitchen, not attached to your home, if it's on a general zoned area--too bad. They wouldn't allow it.

I would still try the Health Department and see about getting a food handler's safety certificate. It's something good to have and something that is required. Chat them up, talk to one of the inspectors if you can and maybe they will be able to tell you something.

Never hurts to ask.

Kathy

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bisbqueenb Posted 22 Jan 2011 , 3:34pm
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Perhaps I just lucky, but I have my 'commercial kitchen' in a guest house on my property that is not in a commercial zone! So, yes, it will depend on which county or even city you live in here in Arizona!

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FancyPantsBaker Posted 22 Jan 2011 , 3:51pm
post #8 of 79
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bettyviolet101

I know its illegal to have a home bakery out of your kitchen but is it legal to have a seperate kitchen on your property? Can anyone point me towards a website that states those laws? Also, is it legal in AZ to rent out a commercial inspected kitchen to do some cakes?




There are actually commercial kitchens here in arizona that rent out space for an hourly fee. I was looking into it when I was looking into running a business from home. http://www.commercialkitchenforrent.com/Arizona-3-0.html I googled commercial kitchens for rent in arizona and found this website I hope that this helps you also look up Food Regulations in arizona that may turn up something. If you have any more questions feel free to email me

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maybaby08 Posted 22 Jan 2011 , 3:55pm
post #9 of 79

I rent a kitchen in Tempe and operate out of that, much much easier than fighting with the health dept icon_smile.gif

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KimAZ Posted 19 Mar 2011 , 5:39am
post #10 of 79

Hopefully very soon it will be legal to do cakes from home in AZ! There is a bill that passed the House of Reps in Feb and is currently about to go into the 3rd reading in the Senate. It's looking VERY good for us!

Please see HB2103 for more info.
http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=HB2103&Session_ID=102

I've been keeping up with it and can't wait to be able to post the results!

KimAZ

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CupQuequito Posted 19 Mar 2011 , 6:52am
post #11 of 79
Quote:
Originally Posted by KimAZ

Hopefully very soon it will be legal to do cakes from home in AZ! There is a bill that passed the House of Reps in Feb and is currently about to go into the 3rd reading in the Senate. It's looking VERY good for us!

Please see HB2103 for more info.
http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=HB2103&Session_ID=102

I've been keeping up with it and can't wait to be able to post the results!

KimAZ




I have a commercial kitchen that I work out of... but I like this news! icon_biggrin.gif

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glendaleAZ Posted 19 Mar 2011 , 8:30am
post #12 of 79

Kim,

I can't believe the votes are in our favor. But, it seems the higher the bill goes the closer the votes become. Is there anything we can do to help this along? Make some phone calls maybe?

Thanks for letting us know about this, and keeping up posted with updates.

Tammy

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KakeMistress Posted 19 Mar 2011 , 2:08pm
post #13 of 79

OMG this makes me super excited. I hope that everything works in our favor icon_biggrin.gif

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dukeswalker Posted 19 Mar 2011 , 2:36pm
post #14 of 79

Oh! That is exciting to see! icon_smile.gif I think I'll need to make some calls....

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lorieleann Posted 19 Mar 2011 , 5:05pm
post #15 of 79
Quote:
Originally Posted by KimAZ

Hopefully very soon it will be legal to do cakes from home in AZ! There is a bill that passed the House of Reps in Feb and is currently about to go into the 3rd reading in the Senate. It's looking VERY good for us!

Please see HB2103 for more info.
http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=HB2103&Session_ID=102

I've been keeping up with it and can't wait to be able to post the results!

KimAZ




This is really exciting. I am just getting into a commercial kitchen but would love for this option.

I know that in Pima county there department is very difficult to deal with and has many grey areas. I have friends who make sandwiches with meat and cheese out of a converted garage/storage room off their carport at their home in a residential area. They are fully licensed (though they got that license about 20 years ago) to operate. Though I do believe that they are able to do it because they are not baking with large ovens, just putting together already purchased food products. Maybe it is a food manufacturing difference? So complicated.... The paper this morning they were even looking to shut down a community garden at the children's museum giving to a local restaurant who would then give proceeds from those dishes back to the museum--because the native grains, beans and corn weren't coming from an authorized distributer. thankfully the judge said the plan was okay.

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KimAZ Posted 19 Mar 2011 , 6:28pm
post #16 of 79

PLEASE, PLEASE send a letter or email to Rep Kavanaugh of the House of Representatives. [email protected] or
House of Representatives
1700 W. Washington
Room 114
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone Number: (602) 926-5170

He is the one sponsoring this bill. As is Will Humble who is the director of the Arizona Dept of Health Services. Both of these men have spoken directly in front of the board/panel are are very pro this bill.

The more people we can get behind them, the better! Here is a copy of the bill as of now. Scroll down to page 4 for the highlighted section in blue.

http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/50leg/1r/bills/hb2103h.pdf

If half of the United States already has a food cottage law, and they do....certainly Arizona should be next in line!!!

KimAZ

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glendaleAZ Posted 19 Mar 2011 , 10:00pm
post #17 of 79

Hi Kim,

You should start a new thread about this bill. We might get more viewers, and assistance, if you have a thread with a more eye catching title, such as, "New Arizona Bill for Home Bakers - Help needed" or something like that.

Do you have the names of the senate members of the Third Reading? I want to contact them all, even the ones that are against the bill, to let them know this is something they need to vote yes on - it couldn't hurt, and maybe some might even change their No vote to a Yes.

Again, thank you for taking the lead on this issue. I don't want to get my hopes up, but after viewing how the votes are going our way, so far, it feels very promising.

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glendaleAZ Posted 19 Mar 2011 , 10:14pm
post #18 of 79

Kim,

I forgot to ask... Did you send an email/letter to Rep Kavanaugh? If yes, do you have a copy that we can use as a template? I just want to get an idea of what I should say.

Thank you. icon_biggrin.gif

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blueirus Posted 19 Mar 2011 , 10:24pm
post #19 of 79

Sounds good to me I will definitely be doing that too!

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KimAZ Posted 20 Mar 2011 , 12:37am
post #20 of 79

I posted the link above to the info on the bill that I'm aware of right now. If you look there are links to all the names of senators on that page.
http://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=S

In the letter I wrote to Rep Kavanaugh I just stated that I fully support this bill, would love to see it pass as myself and so many other cake decorators would love to be able to make a little extra income from home. I specifically said I am a cake decorator too. I want to be sure that the word " confectionary" as it is in the bill now will mean more than just candy.

Just say what comes from your heart. I also mentioned that half of the United States already has this law in effect and there are no major problems or outbreaks of food borne illness from any one of them. Arizona would love this opportunity as well!

I'll start a new thread and link this one so everyone can see what's going on.

KimAZ

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glendaleAZ Posted 20 Mar 2011 , 2:58am
post #21 of 79

Thanks Kim.

I don't know how I missed it (guess I'm getting old).

I will send an email to each member on the list.

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lilmissbakesalot Posted 21 Mar 2011 , 2:32am
post #22 of 79

Do you run into issues with cottage food laws and venues? I know that cottage food laws make it legal to bake in your home kitchen, but most aren't inspected and you have to mark your products as having come from an unlicensed kitchen. Many venues don't allow products from unlicensed kitchens.

I would love for the cottage laws to pass in AZ as I am moving to the Scottsdale area in August and this would mean that I could get my business up and going without having to rent kitchen space, but I wonder about how to get around the fact that you are technically still unlicensed even though it is legal.

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glendaleAZ Posted 21 Mar 2011 , 3:25am
post #23 of 79

lilmissbakesalot - I've only heard of a few venues that require prof of a business license, but I never ran into one of them. I've only made a few wedding cakes, so I might now be the best example.

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glendaleAZ Posted 21 Mar 2011 , 3:44am
post #24 of 79

I just wanted to post a copy of the letter I emailed to each senate member.


Dear Senate Member,

Im writing in regards to HB2103 sponsored by Representative Kavanaugh and Will Humble of the Arizona Department of Health Services.

I can not express how much I hope you vote YES on this bill.

A few years ago, I started making cakes for my friends, and friends of friends. I didnt make very many cakes, but maybe three or four a month. I already had a full-time job as a corporate accountant, and enjoy that position far too much to quit and become a full-time baker. For about a year I was happily oblivious to the fact that making cakes at home and then selling them to my friends was illegal in the State of Arizona - even if you only received a few dollars to cover the cost of supplies. So, needless to say, I was extremely disappointed with this new information. For a short time I entertained the idea of renting a kitchen, but soon found out that it would cost too much for the few cakes I made each month.

Ive always understood why the law was in place for people making actual food out of their home to be sold to the public, but I never understood why consumables such as cakes, cookies, and candies were grouped into the same category. Ive never even heard of anyone getting sick from eating cake-Have you?

There are currently 19 states that have Food Cottage laws: Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming. They found that bakery products and some other foods like jams, jellies, dried herbs, granola, and candy, are considered low-risk for spoilage, because they are not able to support the growth of potentially harmful organisms and do not require refrigeration. These foods are known as non-potentially hazardous. These states generally report very few, if any, complaints or incidences of food-borne illness originating from non-potentially hazardous foods prepared in residential kitchens.

These are a few states that are currently considering Cottage Food Laws: Florida, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Washington State.

With the state of the economy, passing this bill would generate income not only for the person selling the product, but would also increase the States revenue. The baker would need to purchase a business license, a food handlers card, and pay income tax on all items sold.

Thank you for taking the time to read my side of this issue, and why I feel its important for you to vote YES on HB2103.

Sincerely,
Tammy XXXXXX
Former Cake Artist

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lilmissbakesalot Posted 21 Mar 2011 , 12:36pm
post #25 of 79

That's certainly good to know. I live in NH right now and they license residential kitchens for non-hazardous foods and was a bit bummed at the news about AZ not allowing it. I will be hoping for you (and eventually me... LOL) that the bill passes.

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KakeMistress Posted 1 Apr 2011 , 2:54am
post #26 of 79

ok so I have been following along with the bill and its ALMOST THERE!!!!! I googled how a bill is turned into a law and according to that the bill has one more reading to pass and then it will be passed to the Governor to be signed. At this moment I dont know when the next reading will be it hasnt shown up in the Senate Calendar yet.... Everyone cross your fingers

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KimAZ Posted 1 Apr 2011 , 4:01am
post #27 of 79

You are right! The next time they meet will be for the vote in Senate.

There is another thread I'm keeping updated too called Arizona Food Cottage bill.


KimAZ

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bisbqueenb Posted 6 Apr 2011 , 11:33pm
post #28 of 79

When this gets passed I could save $225.00 a year only having to have a health card! hummmmmm interesting.

Kim...where does it stand now?

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KimAZ Posted 7 Apr 2011 , 1:50am
post #29 of 79

The bill passed the 3rd reading in the Senate today! Woohoo!! Now it goes back to the House for final approval then on to the Govenor.


Keep your fingers crossed!

KimAZ

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cakefrenzyaz Posted 7 Apr 2011 , 4:25am
post #30 of 79

Kim, where are you getting your info for this? I am so excited! This means I can put off the expense and headache of trying to find a kitchen to rent! At least for now.

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