With So Many Home Bakes I Think We Should Get A Break
Business By cakefanatic Updated 29 Jan 2007 , 3:21am by indydebi
In school we called that a Tattle Tale.
WE would get mad at tattle tales because we KNEW we were doing some thing wrong and getting caught....
Even Martha Stewart started out baking pies from her home kitchen, maybe they should have added some prison time to her. 
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Maybe when she started it was OK to do it from her home.
I know that a lot of big names in Cake Decorating here in Miami are people that started from their own homes and got so big they had to move their business out of their home.
adn one place has like 5 different outlets!
I moved down here thinking I could bake from home, I came down here looking for a home with a large kitchen to accomodate my business. Also, a lot of the big Miami Cake Decorators, most if not all come from other countries where the rules are different....but....all I know is what I grew up knowing...Ignorance of laws doesn't excuse breaking the law.
Most customers don't report SAHB because it is beneficial to them to have a great cake at lower prices! ( most SAHB don't have overhead to worry about) it only becomes an issue when you get a CUSTOMERZILLA or a legal baker with sour grapes
WE would get mad at tattle tales because we KNEW we were doing some thing wrong and getting caught....
Maybe when she started it was OK to do it from her home.
1. Not always true, In school others would also get mad at the tattle t, not just the ones that got in trouble or got "caught".
2. I really doubt Martha even thought of checking way back then, who would have???? To be honest I never EVEN thought about it until I came to CC. Which means I have broke the law many many times over the years helping my Girl Scout troop, We have sold tons of goodies to add extra money to their funds, OMG once we even sold Shrimp poboys (I cooked them myself) on a HOT day in May, served them to a TON of folks, people were standing in long lines to buy them. And I promise I didn't kill a single person or make them ill. 
BUT at the same time I made sure EVERYTHING was kept at the right temp and that even includes the mayo that goes on the subs. My point is if I can cook fresh raw shrimp outside under a tent I am pretty sure I can cook a cake in my kitchen and DO it right!!
WE would get mad at tattle tales because we KNEW we were doing some thing wrong and getting caught....
Maybe when she started it was OK to do it from her home.
1. Not always true, In school others would also get mad at the tattle t, not just the ones that got in trouble or got "caught".
2. I really doubt Martha even thought of checking way back then, who would have???? To be honest I never EVEN thought about it until I came to CC. Which means I have broke the law many many times over the years helping my Girl Scout troop, We have sold tons of goodies to add extra money to their funds, OMG once we even sold Shrimp poboys (I cooked them myself) on a HOT day in May, served them to a TON of folks, people were standing in long lines to buy them. And I promise I didn't kill a single person or make them ill.
BUT at the same time I made sure EVERYTHING was kept at the right temp and that even includes the mayo that goes on the subs. My point is if I can cook fresh raw shrimp outside under a tent I am pretty sure I can cook a cake in my kitchen and DO it right!!
It's not about those who "DO it right"...it's about those who don't! Just because YOU are clean and want to follow sanitation guidelines doesn't mean everyone who wants to cook from home is/does....hence the need for inspectors!
I don't think anyone who is licensed is saying you shouldn't be able to have a home kitchen...most are just saying that you are breaking the law if its illegal in your state and making it harder to run our businesses! We don't make the laws or enforce them. We just follow them. (I am not trying to talk for every lisenced person on this board this is just the "commulative" thought I get)
So true! Even though I am licensed, I'd actually like to see a clause created for having home kitchens inspected with a basic level license and have some level of guidelines (for example, o.k. to show up at a bridal show, craft fair, have a website, brochure, and business card, but limited advertising). For instance have a minimum income and can make up to $5000/yr income from cakes/confections/food sales(before taxes, wages, advertising, materials are taken out) without needing the bigger retail food handler license and current licensed kitchen requirement, take/pass the ServeSafe course, no pets (other than fish in an enclosed tank in another room), kitchen able to be closed off from the rest of the house (kids issue -- aka a door or half-door even)demonstrate knowledge of food handling safety, etc. Basically, everything but the 3rd sink (but still must sanitize utensils using the sink still) and stainless steel everything..
The idea being it would be an attainable compromise that would cover everyone who does the craft show circuits, small wedding cakes, etc. Figuratively, once you hit the $5000 mark, you're going to have outgrown the kitchen space anyways figuring $3/average slice.. I just see that as a better compromise in that it gets those that are unlicensed at least following the most important food safety guidelines on a consistent basis. Sort of like how they grade dairy farms type of idea..
Of course, we live in MN... "The State Where Absolutely NOTHING Is Allowed"...
CoutureCake:
Add Indiana to the list where absolutely nothing is allowed!! I just want to do a couple of cakes a month!!
Coutoure Cake, some great ideas there!
To breakdown your numbers ..... $5000 max income at $3 a slice is 1666 servings. Assuming an avg wedding size of 200 servings, that's 8.3 weddings a year.....less than one wedding a month.
Some charge more than $3 so they would be doing fewer cakes.
Indy... It's Arbitrary numbers to get the jist of the idea started, but there has to be a ceiling somewhere on a license like that to be able to do it out of the home versus "you're making enough to rent some modest space and play with the big boys/girls now" which would have its advantages in opening up the advertising options, insurance, etc.... I also realize, that a ceiling for NYC is going to be different than what would be needed for a location like Wippleville, NY... Two completely opposite ends of the income bracket.
But, the reason for the $5000 is because if someone is just baking cookies and selling them on the craft show circuit, that's a LOT of cookies to equal $5000 sold... Last I checked, my aunt doesn't make a ton on the circuit, but it's enough to subsidize her income. 8.3 weddings per year, by that point, things are starting to get serious enough to start looking for space anyways.. I'm thinking not to the level of making it into a sustaining only-job in-home business, because if it's sustaining, then one should be considering the formal licensed space anyways... We also aren't talking that majority of the in-home bakers are in $3/slice areas, a lot are in out-state areas where the price is closer to $1.50/slice, so that's closer to 16.7 wedding cakes per year at the 200 attendance average, which is more than one per month.
The important point is to have a standard which is attainable and holds in-home bakers accountable for basic of food safety which is what everyone ultimately wants. Just as lower grade dairy farms are required to still conform to a similar level of safety in handling milk and go through state level inspections every year.. It works with other food industries, it's just crafting something that would be acceptable as a compromise that achieves everyone's primary objective, food safety!
Indy... It's Arbitrary numbers to get the jist of the idea started.....
Oh, I knew you meant that! I was just giving a "for instance" to kinda make it real. I always tell my brides that I don't charge the up-front 20% gratuity charge like other caterers AND I spell it out for them ..... 20% on a $5000 reception is an extra $1000 "just because". They see the 20% but they don't equate it to what that actually means in dollars.
I was only taking your very good points and equating it out for illustrative purposes.
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