How do these online cupcake shops ship their cupcakes? I am trying to start a homebased cupcake bakery and have had some interest from people in other states but not sure how to get them to them.

I'll borrow from my pal SCP1127:

"To cross state lines when shipping, you must have an FDA license, register with the Bioterrorism Act, have a recall protocol in place, and keep detailed production information on their forms. You also must have FDA approved nutritional labels. FDA kitchens must be separate and have a pricey list of requirements. Failure to follow the regulations results in fines by the feds. Any bakery would have no problem with the compliance, but in areas where the requirements are more simple, there would be a problem. Your state Dept of Ag has the packet. As far as shipping, you would need to comply with the requirements. Since all of the major companies that ship do it the same, I assume that this is the way it is done to comply with the regulations. "

You also have to check with the cottage food law in your state to see if you can even ship locally - most do not allow it.

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-722905-shipping.html+state

Thanks, From Scratch, I'm the slowest typist. And it does look like the $25 to $50 in shipping is the FDA requirement. I only want to offer a group of deeply discounted products to our troops. Some families don't bake, so this would be an alternative. My shipping will be at cost. If my kitchen didn't have to be to that standard for my two counties, it would have been too expensive. I haven't gotten the inspection yet because my FDA inspector is deployed. But once you pass the mechanical requirements, the rest is paperwork. I think the label and analysis is $5.00 per recipe, so that's not bad.

Anyone have an actual answer to her question? I would love to know how to ship them too. They would be a fun gift to send to my family over the holidays.

This is what I have in my links. Hope they help.


http://dailycookie.net/2011/04/delicious-decadent-georgetown-cupcakes/

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/2008/02/lessons-in-cupcake-shipping-from-sweet.html

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=715053&sid=cd073a15a56dc75438fdf79dc9d5f46f

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=711942&sid=f9a230befb24ff8d7b14791603714946

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-7211613.html

http://www.boxby.co.uk/sending-cupcakes-by-post.asp

http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2010/12/how-to-ship-cupcakes.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703444804575071441405453122.html

http://lepetitesweetcupcakes.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-ship-cupcakes.html

Good advise!!!!