Selling beef jerky in Minnesota

Q: Where do I go from here?

How to sell beef jerky to stores. Every step, its reason and its typical cost Selling food made at home in Minnesota. All of Minnesota's lines, what you may make, register and outgrow How do I find and choose a co-packer?. 5 min read How do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?. 4 min read What should I charge a store for my product?. 5 min read ShelfStep's summary of the rules and their sources, read October 24, 2026; not legal advice.

Sources last read Oct 24, 2026

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

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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 beef jerky at home in Minnesota?

Minnesota's own pages, as ShelfStep read them on October 24, 2026, do not name beef jerky or foods like it, so this page cannot tell you whether a home kitchen in Minnesota may make it. Ask the Minnesota Department of Agriculture before you make it at home to sell. What the state allows and leaves out in general is on the Minnesota page.

What rules does beef jerky come under beyond Minnesota's?

Outside a home kitchen, ShelfStep's plan reads beef jerky as a meat or poultry product. The plan's own line for it, a default and not a law:

ShelfStep’s plan default, not a lawMeat or poultry (e.g. egg rolls with meat, jerky, sausage): likely USDA-FSIS jurisdiction — federal/state grant of inspection or a co-packer under continuous inspection, the USDA mark of inspection on the label, and cold-chain handling. NOT the FDA path.9 CFR 304 (application for and grant of inspection)

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 beef jerky

Meat inspection and retail stores9 CFR 303.1(d) says:“(d)(1) The requirements of the Act and the regulations in this subchapter for inspection of the preparation of products do not apply to operations of types traditionally and usually conducted at retail stores and restaurants, when conducted at any retail store or restaurant or similar retail-type establishment for sale in normal retail quantities or service of such articles to consumers at such establishments.”9 CFR 303.1(d) · Read Oct 8, 2026
State meat inspection programs9 CFR 321.1(a) says:“to cooperate with any State (including Puerto Rico) or any organized Territory in developing and administering the meat inspection program of such jurisdiction with a view to assuring that it imposes and enforces requirements at least equal to those under Titles I and IV of the Act, with respect to establishments at which products are prepared for use as human food solely for distribution within such jurisdiction”9 CFR 321.1(a) · Read Oct 8, 2026

Where may food made at home be sold in Minnesota?

Minnesota's Cottage Food Exemption rules: where it may be sold2024 Minnesota Statutes, 28A.152 Cottage Foods Exemption says:“(1) directly to the ultimate consumer at a community event or farmers' market; (2) directly from the individual's home to the ultimate consumer, to the extent allowed by local ordinance; or”2024 Minnesota Statutes, 28A.152 Cottage Foods Exemption · Read Oct 24, 2026
Minnesota's Cottage Food Exemption rules: where it may be sold2024 Minnesota Statutes, 28A.152 Cottage Foods Exemption says:“Food products exempt under subdivision 1 may be sold over the Internet but must be delivered directly to the ultimate consumer by the individual who prepared the food product. The statement "These products are homemade and not subject to state inspection." must be displayed on the website that offers the exempt foods for purchase.”2024 Minnesota Statutes, 28A.152 Cottage Foods Exemption · Read Oct 24, 2026
Minnesota's Cottage Food Exemption rules: a yearly sales ceiling2024 Minnesota Statutes, 28A.152 Cottage Foods Exemption says:“An individual selling exempt foods under this section is limited to total sales with gross receipts of $78,000 or less in a calendar year.”2024 Minnesota Statutes, 28A.152 Cottage Foods Exemption · Read Oct 24, 2026
Minnesota's Cottage Food Exemption rules: where it may be soldMDA, Cottage Food Law Guidance says:“The statement is to clarify it is a registration, not a food license, so therefore cottage foods cannot be wholesaled to businesses for resale.”MDA, Cottage Food Law Guidance · Read Oct 24, 2026
Minnesota's Cottage Food Exemption rules: where it may be soldMDA, Cottage Food Law Guidance says:“NOTE: Cottage foods can cross state lines, with the exception of acidified jarred or canned foods (e.g., pickles, tomato sauce). Those foods must be both made and sold in Minnesota.”MDA, Cottage Food Law Guidance · Read Oct 24, 2026

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

Minnesota's Cottage Food Exemption rules: the home-made label2024 Minnesota Statutes, 28A.152 Cottage Foods Exemption says:“the prepared food offered for sale under this clause is labeled to accurately reflect the name and the registration number or address of the individual preparing and selling the food, the date on which the food was prepared, the ingredients and any possible allergens, and the statement "These products are homemade and not subject to state inspection."; and”2024 Minnesota Statutes, 28A.152 Cottage Foods Exemption · Read Oct 24, 2026
Minnesota's Cottage Food Exemption rules: the home-made label2024 Minnesota Statutes, 28A.152 Cottage Foods Exemption says:“the individual displays at the point of sale a clearly legible sign or placard stating: "These products are homemade and not subject to state inspection."; and”2024 Minnesota Statutes, 28A.152 Cottage Foods Exemption · Read Oct 24, 2026

How do I get beef jerky into a store in Minnesota?

Minnesota's Cottage Food Exemption rules: what applies beyond the home-kitchen rulesMDA, Cottage Food Law Guidance says:“If you sell more than $78,000, you need a food license and meet applicable laws for making and selling food under that license.”MDA, Cottage Food Law Guidance · Read Oct 24, 2026
Minnesota's Cottage Food Exemption rules: what applies beyond the home-kitchen rulesMDA, Cottage Food Law Guidance says:“Food licenses do not have restrictions on the amount of annual sales, allow for a wide variety of foods to be sold, and allow for several types of sales including shipping food in the mail. A food license requires the use of an approved kitchen space and equipment that meets applicable regulatory requirements.”MDA, Cottage Food Law Guidance · Read Oct 24, 2026

From there, ShelfStep's standard plan for a meat or poultry product has 18 steps. The first 6 help you find out where and how beef jerky can be made at all, so they come first:

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.
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.
Work out how it stays cold from your kitchen to the shop
If your product needs refrigeration or freezing, plan how to keep it cold at every hand-off. Who keeps it cold at each hand-off, and how you would know if they did not, is what a buyer asks first.
4.
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.
5.
Confirm which agency's rules it falls under
Which rules your product falls under decides every step after this one, and only the right authority can say. The plan says likely; this is where someone qualified says for certain.
6.
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.

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

1. Write the recipe down with exact amounts 2. Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen 3. Work out how it stays cold from your kitchen to the shop 4. Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale 5. Confirm which agency's rules it falls under 6. Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured 7. Choose the container and what seals it 8. Shortlist three co-packers or commercial kitchens 9. Work out what one batch, and one unit, costs to make 10. Set up lot codes and a recall plan 11. Make a first full-size batch 12. Get barcodes 13. Draft the label with everything it has to say 14. Set the wholesale and shelf price from the cost 15. Sell it at a market before you scale 16. Get product liability insurance 17. Make the one-page sheet a buyer reads 18. Name your first three stores

Where do I go from here?

How to sell beef jerky to storesEvery step, its reason and its typical cost Selling food made at home in MinnesotaAll of Minnesota's lines, what you may make, register and outgrow

How do I find and choose a co-packer?5 min read How do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?4 min read What should I charge a store for my product?5 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.