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Selling dried fruit in Colorado

Sources last read Oct 24, 2026

What Colorado's own pages say about making dried fruit at home, each line linked, and the path to a store when you want one to stock it.

Run the free rules check for it: no account, no AI.

A sketch of Dried fruit in its pouch.
General information, not advice. This is written for small food makers and cites its sources, but it is not legal, regulatory or food-safety advice, and it cannot account for your product, your state or your facility. Rules change and thresholds are adjusted yearly. Confirm anything you are about to act on with your state agency, a Process Authority, or the FDA.

Can I make dried fruit at home in Colorado?

Colorado's own pages name dried fruit, or foods like it, in both of Colorado's lists: what a home kitchen may make and what it may not. ShelfStep found these lines by the words they use; whether they cover your product is for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to say. Those lines, as the state writes them:

  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: what may be made at homeCDPHE, Cottage Foods Act says:“This includes: Pickled fruits and vegetables with a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below. Dry spices. Dry teas. Dehydrated produce. Nuts, seeds. Honey, jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butter. Flour, candies, fruit empanadas, tortillas and other similar products that do not require refrigeration for safety. ... Baked goods such as muffins, fruit pies, cookies, and cakes. Roasted coffee beans. ... Freeze-dried produce.”CDPHE, Cottage Foods Act · Read Oct 24, 2026
  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: what may not be made at homeCDPHE, Cottage Foods Act says:“Sauces such as barbeque, hot, pasta, pizza , or salad dressing. Beverages. Condiments such as ketchup, mustard, and hot sauce. ... Cut fresh fruits and vegetables, fruit or vegetable juices or concentrates, fruit or vegetable purees. Pepper jelly or jams made with fresh peppers or homemade dehydrated peppers. Freeze dried meals. Cannabidiol (CBD) and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) containing products.”CDPHE, Cottage Foods Act · Read Oct 24, 2026

What rules does dried fruit come under beyond Colorado's?

Outside a home kitchen, ShelfStep's plan reads dried fruit as a baked good, snack or dry mix. The plan's own line for it, a default and not a law:

ShelfStep’s plan default, not a lawBaked goods, snacks, dry mixes: cottage-food vs commercial-kitchen decision, allergen labeling, shelf-life.USA.gov, state health departments

What the rules behind it say, in their own words, with the page and the day ShelfStep read each. ShelfStep does not decide which of them apply to your product.

Source to check: the rules behind ShelfStep's plan for dried fruit
  • Acidified foods: the definition and its exclusions21 CFR 114.3(b) says:“(b) Acidified foods means low-acid foods to which acid(s) or acid food(s) are added; these foods include, but are not limited to, beans, cucumbers, cabbage, artichokes, cauliflower, puddings, peppers, tropical fruits, and fish, singly or in any combination. They have a water activity (aw) greater than 0.85 and have a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below. ... Carbonated beverages, jams, jellies, preserves, acid foods (including such foods as standardized and nonstandardized food dressings and condiment sauces) that contain small amounts of low-acid food(s) and have a resultant finished equilibrium pH that does not significantly differ from that of the predominant acid or acid food, and foods that are stored, distributed, and retailed under refrigeration are excluded from the coverage of this part.”21 CFR 114.3(b) · Read Oct 8, 2026
Source to check: FDA food facility registration
  • FDA's definition of a food facility21 CFR 1.227 says:“Facility means any establishment, structure, or structures under one ownership at one general physical location, or, in the case of a mobile facility, traveling to multiple locations, that manufactures/processes, packs, or holds food for consumption in the United States. ... The private residence of an individual is not a facility.”21 CFR 1.227 · Read Oct 8, 2026

Where may food made at home be sold in Colorado?

  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: where it may be soldCDPHE, Cottage Foods Act says:“Product(s) must be delivered directly from producer to an informed end consumer and cannot be resold. Product(s) cannot be sold to restaurants or grocery stores. Product(s) may only be sold in Colorado.”CDPHE, Cottage Foods Act · Read Oct 24, 2026
  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: where it may be soldCDPHE, Cottage Foods Act says:“Can Cottage Foods be sold on the Internet? Yes, internet sales are allowed. The mechanism of direct product delivery can be determined between the producer and the informed end consumer as long as it does not involve interstate commerce.”CDPHE, Cottage Foods Act · Read Oct 24, 2026
  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: where it may be soldCDPHE, Cottage Foods Act says:“Can a retail food establishment (restaurant, mobile unit, grocery store, etc.) sell Cottage Foods? No. Since these products are not from a licensed, inspected and regulated facility, they are not considered approved sources and therefore not allowed for sale in these types of establishments.”CDPHE, Cottage Foods Act · Read Oct 24, 2026
  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: where it may be soldCDPHE, Cottage Foods Act says:“Can Cottage Foods be sold out of a store front or via consignment? The law requires that Cottage Foods be sold directly to an informed end consumer from the producer or their designated representative. The store and its employees would need to function as the designated representative.”CDPHE, Cottage Foods Act · Read Oct 24, 2026
  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: a yearly sales ceilingCDPHE, Cottage Foods Act says:“Net revenue allowance If I produce muffins, does the Act allow me to earn up to $10,000 for each type (blueberry, banana, chocolate chip)? Yes.”CDPHE, Cottage Foods Act · Read Oct 24, 2026

What does Colorado say a home-made label must carry?

  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: the home-made labelCDPHE, Cottage Foods Act says:“Do Cottage Foods have to be packaged and labeled? Yes. All Cottage Foods should be packaged and labeled with specific information including an exact disclaimer prior to selling them directly to the informed consumer.”CDPHE, Cottage Foods Act · Read Oct 24, 2026
  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: the home-made labelCDPHE, Cottage Foods Act says:“All Cottage Food products must be labeled with a disclaimer stating that they were produced in a home kitchen without regulatory oversight and may also contain common allergens.”CDPHE, Cottage Foods Act · Read Oct 24, 2026
  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: the home-made labelCDPHE, Cottage Foods Act says:“An informed consumer, is a consumer who has been provided with general product information including the product name, address where the food was prepared, current telephone number or email address of the producer, date the food was produced, ingredients, and a disclaimer that the food was prepared in a home kitchen not subject to licensure or inspection and that it may contain common food allergens.”CDPHE, Cottage Foods Act · Read Oct 24, 2026
  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: the home-made labelCDPHE, Cottage Foods Act says:“At the point of sale, clearly display a placard, sign or card with the following disclaimer: "This product was produced in a home kitchen that is not subject to state licensure or inspection. This product is not intended for resale."”CDPHE, Cottage Foods Act · Read Oct 24, 2026

How do I get dried fruit into a store in Colorado?

  • Colorado's Cottage Foods Act rules: what applies beyond the home-kitchen rulesCDPHE, Food manufacturing and storage says:“Food manufacturing, warehousing, and wholesaling in Colorado is regulated by CDPHE, the FDA, and the USDA. Operators who manufacture foods and dietary supplements with less than 2% cooked meat must be registered with CDPHE and if ingredients or finished products have interstate commerce a registration with the FDA is also required.”CDPHE, Food manufacturing and storage · Read Oct 24, 2026

From there, ShelfStep's standard plan for a baked good, snack or dry mix has 18 steps. The first 6 help you find out where and how dried fruit can be made at all, so they come first:

  1. 1.

    Write the recipe down with exact amounts

    Cost, price, nutrition and the label are all worked out from this. Write it in the units you actually use; ShelfStep converts for the label. What matters is that someone else could make the same batch from what is written.

  2. 2.

    Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen

    The planned storage helps the reviewer assess the process, shelf life and packaging.

    In the plan: It decides which rules you follow.

  3. 3.

    Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale

    This finds out whether the state’s rules allow making this in a home kitchen or point to a commercial one — and that changes the cost and the timeline of everything after it. It is much cheaper to find out now than after buying packaging.

    In the plan: Your state's home-kitchen rules, in its own words. Whether they cover your product is for your state's agency to say.

  4. 4.

    Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured

    These measurements give your reviewer information about the batch; they do not establish safety or storage conditions on their own.

    In the plan: The two numbers the acidified-food rules name. Measured on the finished product, once it has settled.

  5. 5.

    Look into FDA registration

    Registration is how FDA knows your facility exists; the plan is what an inspector or a buyer’s audit asks to see. Both are far easier to do now than during either.

  6. 6.

    Choose the container and what seals it

    The container decides the label size, how many fit a case, what shipping costs, and whether the process authority’s answer still holds. Changing it later re-opens all four.

    In the plan: How it will be packed, what will seal it and what one will cost. Not sure yet is an answer.

Every step, with its reason and what it typically costs, is on the dried fruit page:

1. Write the recipe down with exact amounts2. Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen3. Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale4. Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured5. Look into FDA registration6. Choose the container and what seals it7. Shortlist three co-packers or commercial kitchens8. Work out what one batch, and one unit, costs to make9. Set up lot codes and a recall plan10. Make a first full-size batch11. Find out how long it keeps12. Get barcodes13. Draft the label with everything it has to say14. Set the wholesale and shelf price from the cost15. Sell it at a market before you scale16. Get product liability insurance17. Make the one-page sheet a buyer reads18. Name your first three stores

Where do I go from here?

How to sell dried fruit to storesEvery step, its reason and its typical costSelling food made at home in ColoradoAll of Colorado's lines, what you may make, register and outgrow
Can I sell food made in my home kitchen?5 min readDoes my label need a Nutrition Facts panel?4 min readHow do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?4 min read

Check the rules for yours, then keep it

The rules check runs the same deterministic engine ShelfStep uses inside the app, on your answers, and quotes the sentences each rule rests on, with their links and the day ShelfStep read them. It does not decide which apply. It is free, needs no account and uses no AI. A ShelfStep workspace then keeps your plan, your records and the dates, free for one product.

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Something here out of date, or a state we should write up next? Email hello@shelfstep.com.